A study of lunar impact crater size-distributions

Abstract

Discrepancies in published crater frequency data prompted this study of lunar crater distributions. Effects modifying production size distributions of impact craters such as surface lava flows, blanketing by ejecta, superposition, infilling, and abrasion of craters, mass wasting, and the contribution of secondary and volcanic craters are discussed. The resulting criteria have been applied in the determination of the size distributions of unmodified impact crater populations in selected lunar regions of different ages. The measured cumulative crater frequencies are used to obtain a general calibration size distribution curve by a normalization procedure. It is found that the lunar impact crater size distribution is largely constant in the size range 0.3 km ⩽D ⩽ 20 km for regions with formation ages between ≈ 3 × 109 yr and ≳ 4 × 109 yr. A polynomial of 4th degree, valid in the size range 0.8 km ⩽D ⩽ 20 km, and a polynomial of 7th degree, valid in the size range 0.3 km ⩽D ⩽ ⩽ 20 km, have been approximated to the logarithm of the cumulative crater frequencyN as a function of the logarithm of crater diameterD. The resulting relationship can be expressed asN ∼D α(D) where α is a function depending onD. This relationship allows the comparison of crater frequencies in different size ranges. Exponential relationships with constant α, commonly used in the literature, are shown to inadequately approximate the lunar impact crater size distribution. Deviations of measured size distributions from the calibration distribution are strongly suggestive of the existence of processes having modified the primary impact crater population.