Accession Number:

AD0711861

Title:

CRATERING IN GREENLAND ICECAP SNOW.

Descriptive Note:

Final rept.,

Corporate Author:

ARMY ENGINEER WATERWAYS EXPERIMENT STATION VICKSBURG MISS

Personal Author(s):

• Conway,John A.
• Meyer,John W.

Report Date:

1970-07-01

Pagination or Media Count:

37.0

Abstract:

Predicting cratering effects from explosions in various media and with various charge geometries is a primary purpose of nuclear weapons research. This report deals with crater formation resulting from high-explosive surface bursts in a snow medium. The test program for which crater data were obtained consisted of nine 256-pound TNT charges, one 500-pound C-4 charge, one 1,860-pound C-4 charge, and two 4,180-pound C-4 charges. All were surface bursts fired on the Greenland icecap. Results show that craters produced in snow are larger than those produced in other media, presumably due to greater vaporization and compaction of material. These craters have a characteristic wide, shallow appearance it is believed that pseudoelastic rebound is the mechanism that diminishes crater depth. Analysis of the crater data shows that scaling exponents for craters in snow are lower than cube-root or other scaling exponents generally used for craters in soil or rock media. Author

Descriptors:

• (*NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
• SNOW)
• (*SNOW
• CRATERING)
• TNT
• SIMULATION
• PREDICTIONS
• SURFACE BURST
• EXPLOSION EFFECTS
• TABLES(DATA)
• GREENLAND

Subject Categories:

• Snow, Ice and Permafrost

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE