title: Peak-ring structure and kinematics from a multi-disciplinary study of the Schrödinger impact basin.
abstract: The Schrödinger basin on the lunar farside is ∼320 km in diameter and the best-preserved peak-ring basin of its size in the Earth-Moon system. Here we present spectral and photogeologic analyses of data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) on the LRO spacecraft, which indicates the peak ring is composed of anorthositic, noritic and troctolitic lithologies that were juxtaposed by several cross-cutting faults during peak-ring formation. Hydrocode simulations indicate the lithologies were uplifted from depths up to 30 km, representing the crust of the lunar farside. Through combining geological and remote-sensing observations with numerical modelling, we show that a Displaced Structural Uplift model is best for peak rings, including that in the K-T Chicxulub impact crater on Earth. These results may help guide sample selection in lunar sample return missions that are being studied for the multi-agency International Space Exploration Coordination Group.
authors.affiliation: Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77058, USA.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kring
authors.affiliation: Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77058, USA.
authors.forename: Georgiana Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Gareth S
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6087-6149
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.affiliation: Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77058, USA.
authors.forename: Ross W K
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.affiliation: Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77058, USA.|Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA.
authors.forename: Mitali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chandnani