Abundance and size-frequency distributions of boulders in Linne crater’s ejecta (Moon). (arXiv:1812.00590v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Pajola_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Maurizio Pajola</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Pozzobon_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Riccardo Pozzobon</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lucchetti_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alice Lucchetti</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Rossato_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sandro Rossato</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Baratti_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Emanuele Baratti</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Galluzzi_V/0/1/0/all/0/1">Valentina Galluzzi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Cremonese_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Gabriele Cremonese</a>

This paper presents the abundances and the size-frequency distributions (SFD)
of the ejected boulders surrounding the Linne crater, located on the Moon’s
Mare Serenitatis basin. By means of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera
high-resolution images we prepare a context geological map of the Linne crater
as well as we identify 12000 boulders > 4.4 m, with a maximum measured size of
30.8 m. The cumulative number of boulders per km2 is fitted with a power-law
curve with index -4.03 +0.09/-0.10. By studying the radial ejecta abundances,
we find that the largest ones are located within the first 2 km from the
crater’s centre, while few tens of boulders with sizes < 8 m are detectable above 5 km from the crater's rim. We find that the Linne proximal ejecta blanket is slightly asymmetrical, as indicated in the geological map too, showing a density increase in the NE-SW direction. This may be the result of an oblique impact emplacement of the original impactor, or it may be explained with a perpendicular impact in the Mare Serenitatis location, but on a surface with lunar basalts with different local mechanical properties. By exploiting our boulders size density as a function of the distance from the crater's centre, we derive a possible regolith thickness at the Linne impact of 4.75 m, supporting similar values based on Earth-based radar and optical data in the Mare Serenitatis basin.

This paper presents the abundances and the size-frequency distributions (SFD)
of the ejected boulders surrounding the Linne crater, located on the Moon’s
Mare Serenitatis basin. By means of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera
high-resolution images we prepare a context geological map of the Linne crater
as well as we identify 12000 boulders > 4.4 m, with a maximum measured size of
30.8 m. The cumulative number of boulders per km2 is fitted with a power-law
curve with index -4.03 +0.09/-0.10. By studying the radial ejecta abundances,
we find that the largest ones are located within the first 2 km from the
crater’s centre, while few tens of boulders with sizes < 8 m are detectable
above 5 km from the crater’s rim. We find that the Linne proximal ejecta
blanket is slightly asymmetrical, as indicated in the geological map too,
showing a density increase in the NE-SW direction. This may be the result of an
oblique impact emplacement of the original impactor, or it may be explained
with a perpendicular impact in the Mare Serenitatis location, but on a surface
with lunar basalts with different local mechanical properties. By exploiting
our boulders size density as a function of the distance from the crater’s
centre, we derive a possible regolith thickness at the Linne impact of 4.75 m,
supporting similar values based on Earth-based radar and optical data in the
Mare Serenitatis basin.

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