Small Radar-Bright Crater Populations as a Guide to Mega-Regolith Thickness in the Southern Lunar Highlands

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

1160 Planetary And Lunar Geochronology, 5420 Impact Phenomena, Cratering (6022, 8136), 5464 Remote Sensing, 6949 Radar Astronomy, 6969 Remote Sensing

Scientific paper

The southern highlands of the Moon comprise superposed ejecta layers, individually up to a kilometer in thickness, from the major basins. The radar properties of smaller (1-16 km diameter) impact craters that penetrate into this layered mega-regolith and excavate material from depth provide insight into the variability of mega-regolith depth above a postulated basement of large crustal blocks. We observe a significant difference in the population of radar-bright craters, 1-16 km and larger in diameter, between regions of the southeastern nearside highlands north and south of approximately 48°S latitude. There are about 1/3 fewer radar-bright craters south of this line than to the north, broadly coincident with the mapped boundary between southern deposits mapped as pre-Nectarian age and those of Nectarian to Imbrian age to the north. This difference in small radar-bright crater population is consistent with a mega-regolith thickness of about 1.5 km in the north and 2.5 km in the south, a difference that we attribute to South-Pole-Aitken basin ejecta.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Small Radar-Bright Crater Populations as a Guide to Mega-Regolith Thickness in the Southern Lunar Highlands does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Small Radar-Bright Crater Populations as a Guide to Mega-Regolith Thickness in the Southern Lunar Highlands, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Small Radar-Bright Crater Populations as a Guide to Mega-Regolith Thickness in the Southern Lunar Highlands will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1237190

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.