Geological mapping and chronology of lunar landing sites: Apollo 14

Abstract

The lunar cratering chronology function is based on the careful and systematic correlation of crater size-frequency distributions (CSFDs) with radioisotopic ages of samples from the Apollo, Luna, and Chang'e landing sites. The link between the samples and the CSFDs requires a detailed understanding of the landing site geology. Therefore, in this study, we have created a new detailed regional geological map of the Apollo 14 landing site using LRO, M3, and SELENE/Kaguya data. The geologic map allows us to define homogeneous areas for new CSFD measurements, from which updated N(1) values (i.e., cumulative number of craters with diameter ≥ 1 km) can be determined for the sampled geologic units. In particular, at the Apollo 14 landing site we measured the N(1) of the Imbrian Fra Mauro Formation (Ifm), which is interpreted to be ejecta from the Imbrium basin, and can be correlated with the Apollo 14 Imbrium ejecta samples. This new calibration point can be compared with the lunar chronology of Neukum (1983). We find that the new calibration point is consistent with the lunar cratering chronology of Neukum (1983). Together with our previous studies, this result supports the validity of this chronology.