Surface gravity and crater diameter as proxies of extra-terrestrial impact

Abstract

Impact cratering is a dominant geological process in the Solar system and is one of the frontier themes in planetary research. Here we explore the possible dependency of surface gravity and crater geometry in the natural and theoretical prediction from scaling factor of crater diameter using morphometric analysis. Theoretical model predicts a negative correlation between final crater diameter (D(fr)) and gravitational acceleration of the target body (g). In our study, an inner solar system body reveals consistent correlation that demonstrates a fundamental relationship between D(fr) and g, although such process may not be applicable if we consider outer solar system bodies. Our study indicates that impact-cratering process is primarily controlled by objects associated with asteroids belts. We also demonstrate that crater-diameter scaling can be used as the proxy for extra-terrestrial impact.