CATEGORIZING 30KM CRATERS ON THE LUNAR SURFACE

Geoffrey George, Charles Gutierrez Miguel Nze, Matt Malacara, Brandon Rangel, Juan Urquidi, Alex ValdezRobert E. Lee High School/S.T.E.M. RAM AcademySan Antonio, Texas

Project Selection

We looked through the topics and discussed which one we all had an interest in.

When we got down to three we did our research and found which one had the most resources available.

After about a week of research we came to a consensus about our topic.

Topic of Study

Categorize lunar impact craters 30km(±4km) in diameter as either Primary or Secondary based upon crater depth, diameter, and regional surroundings

Background Info

Morphology Primary vs. Secondary Crater counting

Primary Data Gathering

Gathered crater information (Identity, Diameter, Longitude & Latitude)

Compiled and documented craters that ranged from 26 – 34 kilometers.

Made use of Google Earth’s Moon feature to collect pictures of all the craters registered.

Detailed Data gathering

Examined Crater Region for similar sized impact sites

Calculated a ratio between given Depth and Diameter

Looked for trends between separate sets of data

Predicted Crater type upon the look of the Impact region against the Depth-Diameter Ratio

DataCrater Name: Lambert

Location: 25.80°N 21.00°W

Depth/Diameter Ratio: .09

Depth: 2.7km

Diameter: 30km

Regional Appearance; Crater is surrounded by many miniscule craters, Crater appears to have a complex inner geography

Link to full spreadsheet:

http://bit.ly/dVJH7j

Data Spreadsheet

Conclusion

Currently our team lacks sufficient amounts of data to come to determine any sort of trend between the Depth/Diameter Ratio and the appearance of the crater region to determine the classification of the impact sites.

Future Studies

Continue to gather data concerning crater depth and diameter

Possibly expand set of data to include; Crater age, edge slope, and temperature

Build up a website to exhibit set of craters coupled with their related information

References

Google Earth Map-A-Planet

USGS Map-a-Planet: Explore the Earth's Moon . (n.d.). USGS Astrogeology: Map-a-Planet. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.mapaplanet.org/explorer

Lunar Republic The Moon - Official Website Of Luna - Luna

Society. (n.d.).The Moon - Official Website Of Luna - Luna Society. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.lunarrepublic.com/