Impacts into oceans and seas

Impacts of cosmic bodies into oceans and seas lead to the formation of very high waves. Numerical simulations of 3-km and 1-km comets impacting into a 4 km depth ocean with a velocity of 20 km/sec have been conducted. For a 1-km body, depth of the interim crater in the sea bed is about 8 km below ocean level, and the height of the water wave is 10 m at a distance of 2000 km from the impact point. As the water wave runs into shallows, a huge tsunami hits the coast. The height of the wave strongly depends on the coastal and sea bed topography. If the impact occurred near the shore, the huge mass of water strikes the cliffs and the near shore mountain ridges and can cause displacement of the rocks, initiate landslides, and change the relief. Thus, impact into oceans and seas is an important geological factor. Cosmic bodies of small sizes are disrupted by aerodynamic forces. Fragments of a 100-m radius comet striking the water surface create an unstable cavity in the water of about 1 km radius. Its collapse also creates tsunami. A simple estimate has been made using the light curves from recent atmosphere explosions detected by satellites. The results of our assessment of the characteristics of meteoroids which caused these intense light flashes suggests that fragments of a 25-m stony body with initial impact velocity 15 to 20 km/sec will hit the surface. For a 75-m iron body striking the sea with a depth of 600 m, the height of the wave is 10 m at 200–300 km distance from the impact.