Endogenic craters on basaltic lava flows - Size frequency distributionsCircular crater forms, termed collapse depressions, which occur on many basalt flows on the earth have also been detected on the moon and Mars and possibly on Mercury and Io. The admixture of collapse craters with impact craters would affect age determinations of planetary surface units based on impact crater statistics by making them appear anomalously old. In the work described in the present paper, the techniques conventionally used in planetary crater counting were applied to the determination of the size range and size frequency distribution of collapse craters on lava flows in Idaho, California, and New Mexico. Collapse depressions range in size from 3 to 80 m in diameter; their cumulative size distributions are similar to those of small impact craters on the moon.
Document ID
19800039557
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Greeley, R. (NASA Ames Research Center Space Science Div., Moffett Field, Calif.; Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz., United States)
Gault, D. E. (Murphys Center for Planetology Murphys, Calif., United States)