The fractured Moon: Production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering

©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. We have analyzed the Bouguer anomaly (BA) of ~1200 complex craters in the lunar highlands from Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory observations. The BA of these craters is generally negative, though positive BA values are observed, particu...

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Main Authors: Soderblom, J., Evans, A., Johnson, B., Melosh, H., Miljkovic, Katarina, Phillips, R., Andrews-Hanna, J., Bierson, C., Head, J., Milbury, C., Neumann, G., Nimmo, F., Smith, D., Solomon, S., Sori, M., Wieczorek, M., Zuber, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28634
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author Soderblom, J.
Evans, A.
Johnson, B.
Melosh, H.
Miljkovic, Katarina
Phillips, R.
Andrews-Hanna, J.
Bierson, C.
Head, J.
Milbury, C.
Neumann, G.
Nimmo, F.
Smith, D.
Solomon, S.
Sori, M.
Wieczorek, M.
Zuber, M.
author_facet Soderblom, J.
Evans, A.
Johnson, B.
Melosh, H.
Miljkovic, Katarina
Phillips, R.
Andrews-Hanna, J.
Bierson, C.
Head, J.
Milbury, C.
Neumann, G.
Nimmo, F.
Smith, D.
Solomon, S.
Sori, M.
Wieczorek, M.
Zuber, M.
author_sort Soderblom, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description ©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. We have analyzed the Bouguer anomaly (BA) of ~1200 complex craters in the lunar highlands from Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory observations. The BA of these craters is generally negative, though positive BA values are observed, particularly for smaller craters. Crater BA values scale inversely with crater diameter, quantifying how larger impacts produce more extensive fracturing and dilatant bulking. The Bouguer anomaly of craters larger than 93-19+47 km in diameter is independent of crater size, indicating that there is a limiting depth to impact-generated porosity, presumably from pore collapse associated with either overburden pressure or viscous flow. Impact-generated porosity of the bulk lunar crust is likely in a state of equilibrium for craters smaller than ~30 km in diameter, consistent with an ~8 km thick lunar megaregolith, whereas the gravity signature of larger craters is still preserved and provides new insight into the cratering record of even the oldest lunar surfaces.
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publishDate 2015
publisher Blackwell Publishing Ltd
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-286342017-09-13T15:17:10Z The fractured Moon: Production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering Soderblom, J. Evans, A. Johnson, B. Melosh, H. Miljkovic, Katarina Phillips, R. Andrews-Hanna, J. Bierson, C. Head, J. Milbury, C. Neumann, G. Nimmo, F. Smith, D. Solomon, S. Sori, M. Wieczorek, M. Zuber, M. ©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. We have analyzed the Bouguer anomaly (BA) of ~1200 complex craters in the lunar highlands from Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory observations. The BA of these craters is generally negative, though positive BA values are observed, particularly for smaller craters. Crater BA values scale inversely with crater diameter, quantifying how larger impacts produce more extensive fracturing and dilatant bulking. The Bouguer anomaly of craters larger than 93-19+47 km in diameter is independent of crater size, indicating that there is a limiting depth to impact-generated porosity, presumably from pore collapse associated with either overburden pressure or viscous flow. Impact-generated porosity of the bulk lunar crust is likely in a state of equilibrium for craters smaller than ~30 km in diameter, consistent with an ~8 km thick lunar megaregolith, whereas the gravity signature of larger craters is still preserved and provides new insight into the cratering record of even the oldest lunar surfaces. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28634 10.1002/2015GL065022 Blackwell Publishing Ltd unknown
spellingShingle Soderblom, J.
Evans, A.
Johnson, B.
Melosh, H.
Miljkovic, Katarina
Phillips, R.
Andrews-Hanna, J.
Bierson, C.
Head, J.
Milbury, C.
Neumann, G.
Nimmo, F.
Smith, D.
Solomon, S.
Sori, M.
Wieczorek, M.
Zuber, M.
The fractured Moon: Production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering
title The fractured Moon: Production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering
title_full The fractured Moon: Production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering
title_fullStr The fractured Moon: Production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering
title_full_unstemmed The fractured Moon: Production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering
title_short The fractured Moon: Production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering
title_sort fractured moon: production and saturation of porosity in the lunar highlands from impact cratering
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28634