Abstract
Fresh impact ejecta deposits on the lunar surface can be characterized
as heterogeneous mixtures of boulders, cobbles, and fine-grained
regolith that are deposited on the lunar surface during the impact
crater formation process. Over time, the boulders associated with ejecta
deposits break down into fine-grained regolith due to a combination of
bombardment and thermal fatigue. Several qualitative observations of old
(>2.0 Ga) kilometer-scale lunar impact ejecta deposits made
here in high-resolution images reveal tens of large (>1 m)
boulders associated with kilometer-scale crater rims and near-proximal
ejecta deposits on the lunar maria. These observations went undescribed
in prior measurements of lunar boulder breakdown which suggested that
lunar boulders should be destroyed in <300 Myr due to
micrometeoroid impacts and other processes (e.g., Basilevsky et al.,
2015). Here, we use a combination of radar and thermal-infrared data
from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft to show that
kilometer-scale impact crater rims exhibit elevated rock abundances for
the lifetime of the lunar maria. We interpret these results as
indicating that boulders are continually being uncovered at crater rims
due to downslope movement of the overlying regolith. Moreover, rocks
found at crater rims that have been exhumed from depth in geologically
recent times are locally derived and unlikely to have come from other
areas of the Moon. Future collection of lunar samples at crater rims
will serve to mitigate the potential for sample contamination from
distal sources, helping to ensure accurate geologic interpretations from
the collected samples.