Creep response of the lunar crust in mare regions from an analysis of crater deformation

Physics

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Scientific paper

The settling trends of 318 lunar mare craters are compared with predictions of numerical finite-element models in order to determine the creep response of the upper lunar mare crust. No settling is evident in craters smaller than 5 km in diameter. Settling rates of larger craters increase as function of crater size in a manner suggesting a non-linear lunar creep response corresponding to the power law ɛ´ = 8.3 . 10 -34 σ2 where ɛ´ is the strain rate and σ is the differential stress. However, the observed nonlinearity is probably an apparent nonlinearity resulting from the temperature induced viscosity decrease with depth due to a lunar crustal temperature gradient of 3° C/km and a creep activation energy of 20 kcal/mole. It is concluded that creep in the lunar medium is essentially Newtonian, and that the effective viscosity of the upper lunar mare crust is (1.6 +/- 0.3) . 1025 poise. (formerly Geophysics Section, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.)

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