title: Formation of the Orientale lunar multiring basin.
abstract: Multiring basins, large impact craters characterized by multiple concentric topographic rings, dominate the stratigraphy, tectonics, and crustal structure of the Moon. Using a hydrocode, we simulated the formation of the Orientale multiring basin, producing a subsurface structure consistent with high-resolution gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft. The simulated impact produced a transient crater, ~390 kilometers in diameter, that was not maintained because of subsequent gravitational collapse. Our simulations indicate that the flow of warm weak material at depth was crucial to the formation of the basin's outer rings, which are large normal faults that formed at different times during the collapse stage. The key parameters controlling ring location and spacing are impactor diameter and lunar thermal gradients.
authors: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. brandon_johnson@brown.edu.
authors: Brandon C
authors: BC
authors: Johnson
authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory, Route 40, Westford, MA 01886, USA.
authors: David M
authors: DM
authors: Blair
authors: Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors: Gareth S
authors: GS
authors: Collins
authors: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors: H Jay
authors: HJ
authors: Melosh
authors: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors: Andrew M
authors: AM
authors: Freed
authors: Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
authors: G Jeffrey
authors: GJ
authors: Taylor
authors: Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
authors: James W
authors: JW
authors: Head
authors: Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Paris Cedex 13 75205, France.
authors: Mark A
authors: MA
authors: Wieczorek
authors: Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
authors: Jeffrey C
authors: JC
authors: Andrews-Hanna
authors: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
authors: Francis
authors: F
authors: Nimmo
authors: Department of Planetary Science, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
authors: James T
authors: JT
authors: Keane
authors: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors: Katarina
authors: K
authors: Miljković
authors: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors: Jason M
authors: JM
authors: Soderblom
authors: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors: Maria T
authors: MT
authors: Zuber