Giant Craters on 253 Mathilde Revealing the Cohesive Porous Interior of Carbonaceous Parent Bodies

Giant Craters on 253 Mathilde Revealing the Cohesive Porous Interior of Carbonaceous Parent Bodies | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Giant Craters on 253 Mathilde Revealing the Cohesive Porous Interior of Carbonaceous Parent Bodies Hexi Baoyin, Yifei Jiao, Bin Cheng, Wen-Yue Dai, Erik Asphaug, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6500771/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The dark carbonaceous asteroids, comprising over 75% of the main belt population (~50% by mass), are thought to contain the most primitive materials from the early solar system. However, the lack of direct interior measurements has greatly limited our understanding of the formation and evolution of this category. One such primitive asteroid, the 53-km Mathilde, characterized by its well-preserved giant craters, has remained a puzzle since the NEAR spacecraft's first glimpse in 1997. Recent missions to Ryugu and Bennu have provided valuable insights into the composition and structural properties of km-size rubble piles, which are debris aggregates of primitive asteroids, offering a unique opportunity to re-examine the interior of their parent bodies---the large primitive objects like Mathilde. Here we show that large primitive asteroids could possess a cohesive and porous interior, by reconstructing the formation of giant craters on Mathilde with hydrodynamics simulations. Most low-albedo asteroids 40--100 km diameter may possess similar interiors and similar giant craters; this will be tested by the Lucy and MBR Explorer missions. Based on these simulations, and to explain the hydration diversity and exogenic contamination observed among Ryugu and Bennu, we propose that ~85% of the small carbonaceous asteroids could have originated from the catastrophic and super-catastrophic disruptions of large primitive asteroids like Mathilde. Conversely, small basaltic asteroids are more likely to originate from less energetic events thus containing less exogenic. Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Asteroids, comets and Kuiper belt Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Geomorphology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6500771","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":561172361,"identity":"94ec9036-38e2-4599-a3f7-07c18d1c4fcf","order_by":0,"name":"Hexi 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