Temporal Evolution of Crater Populations Formed on Different Facies of Lunar Complex Craters.
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| Title: | Temporal Evolution of Crater Populations Formed on Different Facies of Lunar Complex Craters. |
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| Authors: | Zhang, Yihan1 (AUTHOR), Xie, Minggang1,2 (AUTHOR), Xiao, Zhiyong1,2 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Remote Sensing. May2026, Vol. 18 Issue 10, p1510. 15p. |
| Subjects: | Lunar craters, Impact craters, Impact (Mechanics) |
| Abstract: | Highlights: What are the main findings? We observe that the crater SFDs of ejecta blanket are generally shallower than their corresponding coeval impact melt of lunar complex craters, and the density difference decreases with increasing crater age, from about 75 Ma to 871 Ma. Temporal evolution is consistent with modeled crater production functions that account for time-dependent target properties. What are the implications of the main findings? Time-dependent target properties are potentially caused by impact-induced damage, which efficiently turns coherent melt into ejecta-like fragments. The results suggest that for craters older than Tycho (~75 Ma), self-secondary craters are possibly not the dominant cause for observed crater density differences between coeval geologic units. The formation of a large complex crater is accompanied by the simultaneous formation of coeval sub-geological units that have diverged physical properties, such as a central melt pool and an ejecta blanket. Crater populations formed on different geological units of a given young complex craters usually exhibit different size–frequency distributions (SFDs), but the difference disappears for relatively old craters, e.g., the Copernicus crater with an age of about 800 million years ago (Ma). However, there is a lack of temporal and theoretical constraints on the evolutionary pathway connecting these two SFD end-member states. Here, by observing crater SFDs of complex craters with ages between about 75 Ma and 871 Ma, we find a decrease in the crater SFD difference between coeval geological units with increasing age. The time-dependent crater SFD difference is consistent with modeled production functions with consideration of time-dependent target physical properties. The time dependence of target properties potentially arises from impact-induced damage, which efficiently converts coherent melt into ejecta-like fragments. Our results also imply that the proportion of self-secondary craters to the diameter ≥120 m crater population superposing on the facies of lunar complex craters with age older than crater Tycho is possibly less than 50% and decreases with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Engineering Source |
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| Abstract: | Highlights: What are the main findings? We observe that the crater SFDs of ejecta blanket are generally shallower than their corresponding coeval impact melt of lunar complex craters, and the density difference decreases with increasing crater age, from about 75 Ma to 871 Ma. Temporal evolution is consistent with modeled crater production functions that account for time-dependent target properties. What are the implications of the main findings? Time-dependent target properties are potentially caused by impact-induced damage, which efficiently turns coherent melt into ejecta-like fragments. The results suggest that for craters older than Tycho (~75 Ma), self-secondary craters are possibly not the dominant cause for observed crater density differences between coeval geologic units. The formation of a large complex crater is accompanied by the simultaneous formation of coeval sub-geological units that have diverged physical properties, such as a central melt pool and an ejecta blanket. Crater populations formed on different geological units of a given young complex craters usually exhibit different size–frequency distributions (SFDs), but the difference disappears for relatively old craters, e.g., the Copernicus crater with an age of about 800 million years ago (Ma). However, there is a lack of temporal and theoretical constraints on the evolutionary pathway connecting these two SFD end-member states. Here, by observing crater SFDs of complex craters with ages between about 75 Ma and 871 Ma, we find a decrease in the crater SFD difference between coeval geological units with increasing age. The time-dependent crater SFD difference is consistent with modeled production functions with consideration of time-dependent target physical properties. The time dependence of target properties potentially arises from impact-induced damage, which efficiently converts coherent melt into ejecta-like fragments. Our results also imply that the proportion of self-secondary craters to the diameter ≥120 m crater population superposing on the facies of lunar complex craters with age older than crater Tycho is possibly less than 50% and decreases with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 20724292 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/rs18101510 |
