Interpreting statistics of small lunar cratersSome of the wide variations in the crater-size distributions in lunar photography and in the resulting statistics were interpreted as different degradation rates on different surfaces, different scaling laws in different targets, and a possible population of endogenic craters. These possibilities are reexamined for statistics of 26 different regions. In contrast to most other studies, crater diameters as small as 5 m were measured from enlarged Lunar Orbiter framelets. According to the results of the reported analysis, the different crater distribution types appear to be most consistent with the hypotheses of differential degradation and a superposed crater population. Differential degradation can account for the low level of equilibrium in incompetent materials such as ejecta deposits, mantle deposits, and deep regoliths where scaling law changes and catastrophic processes introduce contradictions with other observations.
Document ID
19780057844
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Schultz, P. H. (Lunar and Planetary Inst. Houston, TX, United States)
Gault, D. (Lunar and Planetary Institute Houston, Tex., United States)
Greeley, R. (Santa Clara, University Moffett Field, Calif., United States)