Replication Data for: Slopes of Lunar Crater Size-Frequency Distributions at Copernican-Aged Craters

Neukum et al. (2001, doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1035-0_3) revised the PF for crater diameters of 100 m–200 km. However, it is suggested to also be valid for the diameter range of 10 m–300 km as well. To assess whether we can extend a PF to craters ≤10 m in diameter, we investigated the slopes of the CSFDs of small craters formed on ejecta of young Copernican-aged craters Giordano Bruno, Moore F, North Ray, and South Ray.

A PF for smaller diameters would allow dating of young geological units, which are typically small, and would reduce the statistical error in age determinations, since smaller craters are more abundant. However, small craters are strongly influenced by geological factors, such as target properties, crater degradation, and secondary craters. For craters between 10 and 20 m we obtain a steeper CSFD slope than Neukum's proposed −3 slope (cumulative), whereas for craters ≤10 m the slope is about −3.

We conclude that the PF of Neukum (1983) provides a reasonable CSFD slope for smaller craters, although it was not developed for this crater diameter range. Key Points

• We studied small craters on young ejecta blankets to evaluate if the lunar production function (PF) is viable for craters ≤10 m
• The crater size-frequency distributions (CSFDs) indicate that the PF can indeed be extended to crater diameters ≤10 m
• Our observed slopes of CSFDs at the studied Copernican-aged craters are consistent with previous findings