A global inventory of central pit craters on the Moon: Distribution, morphology, and geometry

Abstract

The origin of central pit craters on the Moon has long been an enigma, and a primary reason is that their geographic distribution and morphometric characteristics were unknown. We investigated a global inventory of lunar central pit craters using high-resolution image and topography data obtained from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. 56 certain and 35 probable central pit craters are found on both the lunar maria and highlands. The certain pit craters are ∼9–57km in diameter. The average diameter ratio between the central pits and their parent craters is ∼0.12 and the average depth/diameter ratio for the central pits is ∼0.072. With irregular-shaped rims, the central pits have conical profiles and some have flat floors. The central pits occur on both crater floors and central peaks. The floor pits are generally larger, deeper, and with more irregular shape compared with summit pits. Both the summit and floor pit craters have formed in every lunar stratigraphic epoch from Nectarian to Copernican. Target properties of background terrains affect the morphology and size of central pits, but they do not determine whether or not a central pit forms during a cratering event. The lunar central pits may have formed by deformation of central peaks caused by some mechanical processes during or soon after the cratering process of their parent craters.