Crater shape and size-frequency distribution in determining the topographic power spectrum of a cratered surface

Details Crater shape and size-frequency distribution in determining the topographic power spectrum of a cratered surface Crater shape and size-frequency distribution in determining the topographic power spectrum of a cratered surface

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p42a..03r&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P42A-03

Physics

[5420] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Impact Phenomena, Cratering, [5470] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Surface Materials And Properties, [6250] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Moon

Scientific paper

The statistical properties of a heavily cratered planetary surface reflect several factors that govern its formation and subsequent modification: the size-frequency distribution of impactors, the corresponding distribution of crater sizes, crater morphology, and downslope movement of material on steep slopes. We develop and apply a new cratered terrain-generating model to study the relative contributions of the crater size-frequency distribution and crater shape to the power spectral density of a surface that accumulates impacts. By monitoring surviving rim fragments through time, we derive the relationship between the size-frequency distribution of observable craters and its production function, whose slope we vary. This permits us to explore the criteria for equilibrium. Further, we examine the effects of changes in crater morphology with size—the transition from simple to complex crater shapes, as well as the appearance of complex features such as central peaks, peak rings, and wall terraces—on the slope of the power spectrum, utilizing the new global topography dataset provided by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) to characterize the power spectra of several lunar craters. Finally, we compare our findings on the dependencies of the power spectral slope to the observed roughness properties at several length scales of lunar terrains in various stages of saturation, from young maria to ancient highlands.

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