Survival of a proto-atmosphere through the stage of giant impacts: the mechanical aspects

When a giant impact occurs, atmosphere loss may occur due to global ground motion excited by a strong shock wave traveling in the planetary interior. Here, the relations between the ground motion and the amount of the lost atmosphere are systematically investigated through calculations of a spherically one-dimensional atmospheric motion for various initial atmospheric conditions. The fraction of the lost atmosphere to the total mass of the atmosphere is found to be controlled only by the ground velocity and, insensitive to the initial atmospheric conditions. Unlike the previous studies (Ahrens, 1990, Origin of the Earth, H.E. Newson, J.H. Jones (Eds.), pp. 211-227; Ahrens, 1993, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 21, 525-555; Chen and Ahrens, 1997, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 100, 21-26); the estimated loss fraction for the giant impact is only 20%. Significant escape occurs only when the ground velocity is close to the escape velocity. Thus, most of the atmosphere should survive the giant impact. The cause of the difference from previous estimates is discussed from energetic and dynamic points of view. Moreover, if our estimates are applied to the atmosphere of the impactor planet, a significant fraction of it is carried to the target planet. Survival of the proto-atmosphere has very important effects on the origin and evolution of the terrestrial planets' volatile budget. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.