Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Origin and implications of non-radial Imbrium Sculpture on the Moon

Journal Article · · Nature (London)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18278· OSTI ID:1321817
 [1];  [2]
  1. Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Rimmed grooves, lineations and elongate craters around Mare Imbrium shape much of the nearside Moon. This pattern was coined the Imbrium Sculpture1, and it was originally argued that it must have been formed by a giant oblique (~30°) impact, a conclusion echoed by later studies2. Some investigators, however, noticed that many elements of the Imbrium Sculpture are not radial to Imbrium, thereby implicating an endogenic or structural origin3, 4. Here we use these non-radial trends to conclude that the Imbrium impactor was a proto-planet (half the diameter of Vesta), once part of a population of large proto-planets in the asteroid belt. Such independent constraints on the sizes of the Imbrium and other basin-forming impactors markedly increase estimates for the mass in the asteroid belt before depletion caused by the orbital migration of Jupiter and Saturn5. Furthermore, laboratory impact experiments, shock physics codes and the groove widths indicate that multiple fragments (up to 2% of the initial diameter) from each oblique basin-forming impactor, such as the one that formed Imbrium, should have survived planetary collisions and contributed to the heavy impact bombardment between 4.3 and 3.8 billion years ago.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (NA-20)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1321817
Report Number(s):
SAND--2016-5142J; 640983
Journal Information:
Nature (London), Journal Name: Nature (London) Journal Issue: 7612 Vol. 535; ISSN 0028-0836
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (21)

Expectations for Crater Size and Photometric Evolution from the Deep Impact Collision journal March 2005
Some recent advances in the scaling of impact and explosion cratering journal January 1987
CTH: A three-dimensional shock wave physics code journal January 1990
Dynamic fault weakening and the formation of large impact craters journal October 2009
Re-examining the main asteroid belt as the primary source of ancient lunar craters journal February 2015
The Geology of Multi-Ring Impact Basins journal January 1993
Asymmetry of ejecta flow during oblique impacts using three-dimensional particle image velocimetry journal January 2003
The oblique impact Hale and its consequences on Mars: HALE IMPACT CRATER journal April 2012
Estimating transient crater size using the crustal annular bulge: Insights from numerical modeling of lunar basin-scale impacts: ESTIMATING TRANSIENT CRATER SIZE journal September 2012
Atmospheric effects on ejecta emplacement and crater formation on Venus from Magellan journal January 1992
The role of ballistic erosion and sedimentation in lunar stratigraphy journal January 1975
Origin of the cataclysmic Late Heavy Bombardment period of the terrestrial planets journal May 2005
An Archaean heavy bombardment from a destabilized extension of the asteroid belt journal April 2012
Structure and evolution of the lunar Procellarum region as revealed by GRAIL gravity data journal October 2014
Projectile remnants in central peaks of lunar impact craters journal May 2013
Some things we can infer about the Moon from the composition of the Apollo 16 regolith journal July 1997
Hydrocode modeling of oblique impacts: The fate of the projectile journal January 2000
Modeling damage and deformation in impact simulations journal February 2004
An Impactor Origin for Lunar Magnetic Anomalies journal March 2012
Direct Detection of Projectile Relics from the End of the Lunar Basin-Forming Epoch journal May 2012
The geologic history of the Moon report January 1987

Cited By (3)

Lunar Orientale Impact Basin Secondary Craters: Spatial Distribution, Size-Frequency Distribution, and Estimation of Fragment Size journal June 2018
Geological Characterization of the Ina Shield Volcano Summit Pit Crater on the Moon: Evidence for Extrusion of Waning‐Stage Lava Lake Magmatic Foams and Anomalously Young Crater Retention Ages journal April 2019
Projectile preservation during oblique hypervelocity impacts journal April 2018

Similar Records

Evidence for an ancient impact basin in Daedalia Planum, Mars
Journal Article · Tue Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (USA) · OSTI ID:6054988
Polarized magnetic field fluctuations at the Apollo 15 site: possible regional influence on lunar induction
Journal Article · Fri Mar 22 00:00:00 EDT 1974 · Science, v. 183, no. 4130, pp. 1194-1197 · OSTI ID:4329060
Subsurface failure in spherical bodies. A formation scenario for linear troughs on Vesta’s surface
Journal Article · Mon Oct 13 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Icarus · OSTI ID:1143511

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS