A new chronology for the Moon and Mercury

Autor: Marchi, S., Mottola, S., Cremonese, G., Massironi, M., Martellato, E.
Rok vydání: 2009
Předmět:
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1088/0004-6256/137/6/4936
Popis: In this paper we present a new method for dating the surface of the Moon, obtained by modeling the incoming flux of impactors and converting it into a size distribution of resulting craters. We compare the results from this model with the standard chronology for the Moon showing their similarities and discrepancies. In particular, we find indications of a non-constant impactor flux in the last 500 Myr and also discuss the implications of our findings for the Late Heavy Bombardment hypothesis. We also show the potential of our model for accurate dating of other inner Solar System bodies, by applying it to Mercury.
Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, 1 table; accepted by AJ
Databáze: arXiv