Lunar impact basins: Stratigraphy, sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data
Impact basin formation is a fundamental process in the evolution of the Moon and records the history of impactors in the early solar system. In order to assess the stratigraphy, sequence, and ages of impact basins and the impactor population as a function of time, we have used topography from the Lu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85892 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2652-8017 |
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| author | Fassett, Caleb I. Head, James W. Kadish, S. J. Mazarico, Erwan Matias Neumann, Gregory A. Smith, David Edmund Zuber, Maria |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Fassett, Caleb I. Head, James W. Kadish, S. J. Mazarico, Erwan Matias Neumann, Gregory A. Smith, David Edmund Zuber, Maria |
| author_sort | Fassett, Caleb I. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Impact basin formation is a fundamental process in the evolution of the Moon and records the history of impactors in the early solar system. In order to assess the stratigraphy, sequence, and ages of impact basins and the impactor population as a function of time, we have used topography from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to measure the superposed impact crater size-frequency distributions for 30 lunar basins (D ≥ 300 km). These data generally support the widely used Wilhelms sequence of lunar basins, although we find significantly higher densities of superposed craters on many lunar basins than derived by Wilhelms (50% higher densities). Our data also provide new insight into the timing of the transition between distinct crater populations characteristic of ancient and young lunar terrains. The transition from a lunar impact flux dominated by Population 1 to Population 2 occurred before the mid-Nectarian. This is before the end of the period of rapid cratering, and potentially before the end of the hypothesized Late Heavy Bombardment. LOLA-derived crater densities also suggest that many Pre-Nectarian basins, such as South Pole-Aitken, have been cratered to saturation equilibrium. Finally, both crater counts and stratigraphic observations based on LOLA data are applicable to specific basin stratigraphic problems of interest; for example, using these data, we suggest that Serenitatis is older than Nectaris, and Humboldtianum is younger than Crisium. Sample return missions to specific basins can anchor these measurements to a Pre-Imbrian absolute chronology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:45:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/85892 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:45:59Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/858922022-10-01T10:59:57Z Lunar impact basins: Stratigraphy, sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data Fassett, Caleb I. Head, James W. Kadish, S. J. Mazarico, Erwan Matias Neumann, Gregory A. Smith, David Edmund Zuber, Maria Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Smith, David Edmund Zuber, Maria Impact basin formation is a fundamental process in the evolution of the Moon and records the history of impactors in the early solar system. In order to assess the stratigraphy, sequence, and ages of impact basins and the impactor population as a function of time, we have used topography from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to measure the superposed impact crater size-frequency distributions for 30 lunar basins (D ≥ 300 km). These data generally support the widely used Wilhelms sequence of lunar basins, although we find significantly higher densities of superposed craters on many lunar basins than derived by Wilhelms (50% higher densities). Our data also provide new insight into the timing of the transition between distinct crater populations characteristic of ancient and young lunar terrains. The transition from a lunar impact flux dominated by Population 1 to Population 2 occurred before the mid-Nectarian. This is before the end of the period of rapid cratering, and potentially before the end of the hypothesized Late Heavy Bombardment. LOLA-derived crater densities also suggest that many Pre-Nectarian basins, such as South Pole-Aitken, have been cratered to saturation equilibrium. Finally, both crater counts and stratigraphic observations based on LOLA data are applicable to specific basin stratigraphic problems of interest; for example, using these data, we suggest that Serenitatis is older than Nectaris, and Humboldtianum is younger than Crisium. Sample return missions to specific basins can anchor these measurements to a Pre-Imbrian absolute chronology. 2014-03-21T20:00:29Z 2014-03-21T20:00:29Z 2012-02 2011-10 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2169-9100 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85892 Fassett, C. I. et al. “Lunar Impact Basins: Stratigraphy, Sequence and Ages from Superposed Impact Crater Populations Measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) Data: CRATER STATISTICS OF LUNAR IMPACT BASINS.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 117.E12 (2012): n/a–n/a. © 2012 by the American Geophysical Union https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2652-8017 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011je003951 Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Other univ. web domain |
| spellingShingle | Fassett, Caleb I. Head, James W. Kadish, S. J. Mazarico, Erwan Matias Neumann, Gregory A. Smith, David Edmund Zuber, Maria Lunar impact basins: Stratigraphy, sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data |
| title | Lunar impact basins: Stratigraphy, sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data |
| title_full | Lunar impact basins: Stratigraphy, sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data |
| title_fullStr | Lunar impact basins: Stratigraphy, sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lunar impact basins: Stratigraphy, sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data |
| title_short | Lunar impact basins: Stratigraphy, sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data |
| title_sort | lunar impact basins stratigraphy sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from lunar orbiter laser altimeter lola data |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85892 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2652-8017 |
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