HORTON NEWSOM/UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO IMPACT PROCESSES ON THE MOON MARS AND OTHER PLANETARY BODIES BASED ON TERRESTRIAL ANALOGS TERRESTRIAL ANALOG IMPACT CRATERS PROVIDE NATURAL LABORATORIES WITH A VARIETY OF RELEVANT TARGET ROCK ASSEMBLAGES FOR UNDERSTANDING IMPACT PROCESSES ON BODIES WITH WATER OR ICE. WE WILL USE INFORMATION FROM OUR ANALOG STUDIES TO ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPAL QUESTIONS: 1) WHAT WAS THE NATURE OF HABITABLE ENVIRONMENTS ON MARS AND HOW DID PHYLLOSILICATES FORM DURING THE EARLY HEAVY BOMBARDMENT? 2) HOW DID IMPACTS INVOLVING WATER AND ICE ON MARS AND THE LUNAR POLES (AND SOME ASTEROIDS AND OUTER PLANET SATELLITES) AFFECT THE MINERALOGY AND COMPOSITION OF SURFICIAL MATERIALS (INCLUDING NI AND TOXIC ELEMENTS)? 3) WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL NATURE OF IMPACT MELTS AND EJECTA (PROXIMAL AND DISTAL) THAT FORM IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF TARGET ROCKS FOUND ON PLANETARY SURFACES? THREE SPECIFIC TASKS THAT WILL BE ADDRESSED IN THIS PROJECT USING THE NUMEROUS SAMPLES IN OUR COLLECTION OBTAINED FROM EARLIER FIELDWORK AND DRILL CORE PROJECTS. TASK ONE WILL COMPLETE A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF EJECTA BLANKET COMPONENTS AT THE LONAR CRATER DETERMINE THE MINERALOGICAL AND CHEMICAL FRACTIONATION EFFECTS DUE TO ALTERATION OF THE PROXIMAL AND DISTAL EJECTA AND CONDUCT COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF SIMILAR MATERIALS FROM OTHER CRATERS. THIS TASK ALSO INCLUDES STUDIES OF IMPACT MELTS AND SPHERULES AND EVIDENCE FOR THE IMPACTOR IN LONAR CRATER SAMPLES. TASK TWO WILL EVALUATE THE GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FOR MOBILE ELEMENT TRANSPORT BY HYDROTHERMAL PROCESSES IN IMPACT MELT SHEETS AND BASEMENT ROCK BRECCIAS OF LARGE IMPACT CRATERS PRIMARILY IN DRILL CORES FROM THE CHICXULUB STRUCTURE BOSUMTWI AND CHESAPEAKE BAY CRATERS. TASK 3 WILL APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TERRESTRIAL ANALOG IMPACT CRATER PROCESSES TO PLANETARY PROBLEMS AS MENTIONED ABOVE. TASK THREE MAINLY CONSISTS OF MODELING EFFORTS AND WILL ONLY REQUIRE THE USE OF CURRENTLY RELEASED DATA. THIS STUDY IS RELEVANT TO NASA STRATEGIC GOAL 3C AND THE PLANETARY GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS PROGRAM CALL FOR PROPOSALS. THE TEAM HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE STUDYING IMPACT-CRATERING PROCESSES IN THE FIELD AND IN THE LABORATORY AND THEIR EARLIER STUDIES HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO UNDERSTANDING THE CREATION OF HABITABLE ENVIRONMENTS ON MARS. FUNDING FOR THIS PROJECT IS LEVERAGED BY SALARY SUPPORT FOR THE P.I. S CURATION POSITION AND LIMITED SUPPORT FROM PRIVATE FUNDS ADMINISTERED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION.