The lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith
The lunar surface is marked by at least 43 large and ancient impact basins, each of which ejected a large amount of material that modified the areas surrounding each basin. We present an analysis of the effects of basin formation on the entire lunar surface using a previously defined basin ejecta mo...
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ftunivarizonaojs:oai:journals.uair.arizona.edu:article/15634 2023-05-15T18:22:59+02:00 The lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith PETRO, N. E. PIETERS, C. M. 2008-01-01 application/pdf https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/maps/article/view/15634 eng eng Meteoritics & Planetary Science Archives https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/maps/article/view/15634/15622 https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/maps/article/view/15634 Meteoritics & Planetary Science Archives; Vol 43, No 9 (2008); 1517-1529 1945-5100 1086-9379 Lunar basin ejecta;Lunar terranes;Lunar highlands info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2008 ftunivarizonaojs 2020-11-14T17:53:01Z The lunar surface is marked by at least 43 large and ancient impact basins, each of which ejected a large amount of material that modified the areas surrounding each basin. We present an analysis of the effects of basin formation on the entire lunar surface using a previously defined basin ejecta model. Our modeling includes several simplifying assumptions in order to quantify two aspects of basin formation across the entire lunar surface: 1) the cumulative amount of material distributed across the surface, and 2) the depth to which that basin material created a well-mixed megaregolith. We find that the asymmetric distribution of large basins across the Moon creates a considerable nearside-farside dichotomy in both the cumulative amount of basin ejecta and the depth of the megaregolith. Basins significantly modified a large portion of the nearside while the farside experienced relatively small degrees of basin modification following the formation of the large South Pole-Aitken basin. The regions of the Moon with differing degrees of modification by basins correspond to regions thought to contain geochemical signatures remnant of early lunar crustal processes, indicating that the degree of basin modification of the surface directly influenced the distribution of the geochemical terranes observed today. Additionally, the modification of the lunar surface by basins suggests that the provenance of lunar highland samples currently in research collections is not representative of the entire lunar crust. Identifying locations on the lunar surface with unique modification histories will aid in selecting locations for future sample collection. Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole Journals at the University of Arizona Aitken ENVELOPE(-44.516,-44.516,-60.733,-60.733) South Pole |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Journals at the University of Arizona |
op_collection_id |
ftunivarizonaojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Lunar basin ejecta;Lunar terranes;Lunar highlands |
spellingShingle |
Lunar basin ejecta;Lunar terranes;Lunar highlands PETRO, N. E. PIETERS, C. M. The lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith |
topic_facet |
Lunar basin ejecta;Lunar terranes;Lunar highlands |
description |
The lunar surface is marked by at least 43 large and ancient impact basins, each of which ejected a large amount of material that modified the areas surrounding each basin. We present an analysis of the effects of basin formation on the entire lunar surface using a previously defined basin ejecta model. Our modeling includes several simplifying assumptions in order to quantify two aspects of basin formation across the entire lunar surface: 1) the cumulative amount of material distributed across the surface, and 2) the depth to which that basin material created a well-mixed megaregolith. We find that the asymmetric distribution of large basins across the Moon creates a considerable nearside-farside dichotomy in both the cumulative amount of basin ejecta and the depth of the megaregolith. Basins significantly modified a large portion of the nearside while the farside experienced relatively small degrees of basin modification following the formation of the large South Pole-Aitken basin. The regions of the Moon with differing degrees of modification by basins correspond to regions thought to contain geochemical signatures remnant of early lunar crustal processes, indicating that the degree of basin modification of the surface directly influenced the distribution of the geochemical terranes observed today. Additionally, the modification of the lunar surface by basins suggests that the provenance of lunar highland samples currently in research collections is not representative of the entire lunar crust. Identifying locations on the lunar surface with unique modification histories will aid in selecting locations for future sample collection. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
PETRO, N. E. PIETERS, C. M. |
author_facet |
PETRO, N. E. PIETERS, C. M. |
author_sort |
PETRO, N. E. |
title |
The lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith |
title_short |
The lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith |
title_full |
The lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith |
title_fullStr |
The lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith |
title_full_unstemmed |
The lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith |
title_sort |
lunar-wide effects of basin ejecta distribution on the early megaregolith |
publisher |
Meteoritics & Planetary Science Archives |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/maps/article/view/15634 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-44.516,-44.516,-60.733,-60.733) |
geographic |
Aitken South Pole |
geographic_facet |
Aitken South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_source |
Meteoritics & Planetary Science Archives; Vol 43, No 9 (2008); 1517-1529 1945-5100 1086-9379 |
op_relation |
https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/maps/article/view/15634/15622 https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/maps/article/view/15634 |
_version_ |
1766202394859798528 |