Journal
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
Volume 541, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116272
Keywords
craters; Chang'e-5; surface age
Categories
Funding
- Strategic Priority Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDB41000000]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [41490635, 41590851, 41671458]
- Science and Technology Development Fund of Macau (Macau FDCT) [131/2017/A3]
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Chang'e-5 (CE-5) is the first sample-return mission of China's lunar exploration and will be launched in 2020. The planned landing area is near Mons Rumker in Oceanus Procellarum. It is important to have a detailed geological analysis of the landing area prior to the lunar sample collection. The crater size-frequency distribution curve, combined with radioisotope dating of components of the returned sample by CE-5, may allow a refinement of the lunar chronology function. Based on a digital orthophoto map with a pixel size of 1.5 m generated from more than 700 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Narrow Angle Camera images of the CE-5 landing area, all impact craters larger than 200 m in diameter were extracted. Using the resultant crater catalogue of 32,277 craters, a systematic analysis of the landing area including the crater distribution, morphology characteristics, and geologic model ages is conducted. The results show that craters smaller than 1,000 m are denser in the east and the west parts of the region, while those larger than 1,000 m tend to be more concentrated in the central part, particularly within the range of 61.5 degrees W-64.5 degrees W. Within nine geologic units divided using the spectral characteristics, the geologic unit of Em1 (Eratosthenian-aged mare, Em) near the Mons Rumker is the youngest with a model age of 2.02(-0.16)(+0.16) Ga. The three Rumker plateau (IR) units are the oldest parts of the landing area with the largest model age of 3.49(-0.12)(+0.073) Ga. The crater catalogue and the surface model age analysis results can contribute to the CE-5 mission as well as further scientific research. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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