Cliff collapse on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko -- I. Aswan

Abstract

The Aswan cliff on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko collapsed on 2015 July 10. Thereby, relatively pristine comet material from a depth of ~12 m was exposed at the surface. Observations of the collapse site by the microwave instrument Rosetta/MIRO have been retrieved from 8 months prior to collapse, as well as from 5, 7, and 11 months post-collapse. The MIRO data are analysed with thermophysical and radiative transfer models. The pre-collapse observations are consistent with a 30 MKS thermal inertia dust mantle with a thickness of at least 3 cm. The post-collapse data are consistent with: 1) a dust/water-ice mass ratio of 0.9$\pm$0.5 and a molar $\mathrm{CO_2}$ abundance of ~30 per cent relative to water; 2) formation of a dust mantle after ~7 months, having a thickness of a few millimetres or a fraction thereof; 3) a $\mathrm{CO_2}$ ice sublimation front at 0.4 cm that withdrew to 2.0 cm and later to 20$\pm$6 cm; 4) a thermal inertia ranging 10-45 MKS; 5) a gas diffusivity that decreased from $0.1\,\mathrm{m^2\,s^{-1}}$ to $0.001\,\mathrm{m^2\,s^{-1}}$; 6) presence of a solid-state greenhouse effect parts of the time. The data and the analysis provide a first empirical glimpse of how ice-rich cometary material ages and evolves when exposed to solar heating.