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Global survey of lunar regolith depths from LROC images |
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| Authors: | Gwendolyn D Bart Ryan D Nickerson HJ Melosh |
| Institution: | a University of Idaho, Department of Physics, Campus Box 440903, Moscow, ID 83843-0903, USA b Butler University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA c Purdue University, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA |
| Abstract: | We performed the first global survey of lunar regolith depths using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) data and the crater morphology method for determining regolith depth. We find that on both the lunar farside and in the nearside, non-mare regions, the regolith depth is twice as deep as it is within the lunar maria. Our data compare favorably with previous studies where such data exist. We also find that regolith depth correlates well with density of large craters (>20 km diameter). This result is consistent with the gradual formation of regolith by rock fracture during impact events. |
| Keywords: | Moon Surface Cratering Impact processes Regoliths |
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