Copernican craters: Early results from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera

Details Copernican craters: Early results from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Copernican craters: Early results from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.u21c..03m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #U21C-03

Physics

[5420] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Impact Phenomena, Cratering, [5460] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Physical Properties Of Materials, [6207] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Comparative Planetology, [6250] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Moon

Scientific paper

The youngest (Copernican) craters on the Moon provide the best examples of original crater morphology and a record of the impact flux over the last ~1 Ga in the Earth-Moon system. The LRO Narrow Angle Cameras (NAC) provide 50 cm pixels from an altitude of 50 km. With changing incidence angle, global access, and very high data rates, these cameras provide unprecedented data on lunar craters. Stereo image pairs are being acquired for detailed topographic mapping. These data allow comparisons of relative ages of the larger young craters, some of which are tied to absolute radiometric ages from Apollo-returned samples. These relative ages, the crater populations at small diameters, and details of crater morphology including ejecta and melt morphologies, allow better delineation of recent lunar history and the formation and modification of impact craters. Crater counts may also reveal differences in the formation and preservation of small diameter craters as a function of target material (e.g., unconsolidated regolith versus solid impact melt). One key question: Is the current cratering rate constant or does it fluctuate. We will constrain the very recent cratering rate (at 10-100 m diameter) by comparing LROC images with those taken by Apollo nearly 40 years ago to determine the number of new impact craters. The current cratering rate and an assumption of constant cratering rate over time may or may not correctly predict the number of craters superimposed over radiometrically-dated surfaces such as South Ray, Cone, and North Ray craters, which range from 2-50 Ma and are not saturated by 10-100 m craters. If the prediction fails with realistic consideration of errors, then the present-day cratering rate must be atypical. Secondary craters complicate this analysis, but the resolution and coverage of LROC enables improved recognition of secondary craters. Of particular interest for the youngest Copernican craters is the possibility of self-cratering. LROC is providing the the image quality needed to classify small craters by state of degradation (i.e., relative age); concentrations of craters with uniform size and age indicate secondary formation. Portion of LROC image M103703826LE showing a sparsely-cratered pond of impact melt on the floor of farside Copernican crater Necho (4.95 S, 123.6 E).

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