The latest theory of the Siberia 1908 explosion is that the body was so small that it disintegrated/vaporized before it hit the ground. It caused a shock/heat wave that caused severe destruction, but the area directly below the impact site was less damaged than the surrounding areas.
I don't have an explanation of where the matter goes, maybe it gets driven into the ground and covered up over time by forces of nature. I'm thinking that there is a lot of heat and energy that plays a factor, but I don't know of what evidence remains, so I can't really speculate.
--Dan
I think you're close. The body that crashed into Mercury to create this crater probably generated a lot of heat and energy that spread to the surroundings. This action likely melted something out of the ground (maybe water) and gravity and surface tension did the rest to form these channels down into the crater.
The reason you don't see such effects on the moon is because of the lower gravity preventing pooling, lack of substances to "melt", less atmosphere to heat up the projectile, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
The latest theory of the Siberia 1908 explosion is that the body was so small that it disintegrated/vaporized before it hit the ground. It caused a shock/heat wave that caused severe destruction, but the area directly below the impact site was less damaged than the surrounding areas. I don't have an explanation of where the matter goes, maybe it gets driven into the ground and covered up over time by forces of nature. I'm thinking that there is a lot of heat and energy that plays a factor, but I don't know of what evidence remains, so I can't really speculate. --Dan
I think you're close. The body that crashed into Mercury to create this crater probably generated a lot of heat and energy that spread to the surroundings. This action likely melted something out of the ground (maybe water) and gravity and surface tension did the rest to form these channels down into the crater.
The reason you don't see such effects on the moon is because of the lower gravity preventing pooling, lack of substances to "melt", less atmosphere to heat up the projectile, etc.
--Dan