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Investigating the Influences of Crustal Thickness and Temperature on the Uplift of Mantle Material Beneath Large Impact Craters on the Moon
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  • Min Ding,
  • Jason M. Soderblom,
  • Carver J. Bierson,
  • Maria T. Zuber
Min Ding
Macau University of Science and Technology

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Jason M. Soderblom
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Carver J. Bierson
University of California, Santa Cruz
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Maria T. Zuber
MIT
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Abstract

In this work we examine variations in mantle uplift associated with large lunar impact craters and basins between major terranes. We analyze the Bouguer gravity anomalies of 100–650-km diameter lunar impact craters using Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) observations and the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) crater database. The Bouguer gravity anomalies of 324 large impact craters analyzed herein are primarily controlled by the uplifted crust-mantle (Moho) interface in the central region of these impact craters, although post-impact mare deposits contribute to the gravity anomalies of some individual craters. The central uplift of the Moho interface is primarily controlled by impact energy and increases to ~ 30 km for a 650-km crater. Further analyses of craters in the Feldspathic Highlands Terrane (FHT) with varied crustal thickness () reveal that the onset crater diameter () with an uplifted Moho interface is dependent on the local : ~ 146+1.1(in a unit of km). This equation also provides a quantification of the depth-dependent attenuation of impact-induced structural uplift, using the Moho uplift as a proxy for structural uplift. Moho uplift of large craters in the hotter South Pole-Aitken Terrane (SPA) is not statistically different from FHT craters, consistent with the expected thermal difference between these terrains during the pre-Nectarian period.
Feb 2021Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets volume 126 issue 2. 10.1029/2020JE006533