Ganymede: A Relationship Between Thermal History and Crater Statistics
- 10 October 1980
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 210 (4466) , 185-188
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.210.4466.185
Abstract
An approach for factoring the effects of a planetary thermal history into a predicted set of crater statistics for an icy satellite is developed and forms the basis for subsequent data inversion studies. The key parameter is a thermal evolution-dependent critical time for which craters of a particular size forming earlier do not contribute to present-day statistics. An example is given for the satellite Ganymede and the effect of the thermal history is easily seen in the resulting predicted crater statistics. A preliminary comparison with the data, subject to the uncertainties in ice rheology and impact flux history, suggests a surface age of 3.8 × 10 9 years and a radionuclide abundance of 0.3 times the chondritic value.Keywords
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