What is it about?
All scales of craters are important to the transport of impact ejecta on the Moon. Our 3D regolith transport model can explain the abundance of exotic material seen in mare soil samples. As large craters often deliver an exotic material relative to a local site, local small craters dilute and bury those exotic materials. Plus, we found that non-uniform distribution of impact ejecta, e.g. Copernicus Crater rays, can result in a higher concentration of exotic material seen in some soil samples.
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Why is it important?
We calibrate our regolith transport model with Clementine reflectance data on mare and highland contact. The results indicate the importance of all scales of craters on the material transport. One of the most important findings is the nature of heterogeneous distribution of impact ejecta that can affect how we interpret lunar soil samples.
Perspectives
When we interpret lunar soil samples, which is at the topmost layer of lunar surface sample subject to local crater reworking and global surfacing events, taking into account the heterogeneous distribution of impact ejecta is highly recommended.
Ya-Huei Huang
Purdue University System
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Heterogeneous impact transport on the Moon, Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, June 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/2016je005160.
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