Abstract:

Crater sizefrequency distribution is a powerful method for estimating the age of a planet’s surface, including the cumulative sizefrequency distribution method and the relative sizefrequency distribution one. According to the diameter range of craters, three chronology functional expressions are available for calculating the geologic age of stratigraphic units, including Melosh and Vickery 1989 (＞4 km craters), Neukum 1983(＞1 km craters), and LI Kun et al 2012(＜1 km craters). The SELENE TC  data are used to interpret the Apollo 14 and Apollo 16  landing sites areas owing to their high spatial resolution (10 m/pixel). Thus, a crater numbering criteria and new chronology functional expressions are built by the real isotope ages surrounding Apollo 14 and Apollo 16 landing sites areas. By comparison, it shows that the algorithm with larger than 1 km craters by Neukum 1983, performs better than the others. The influences of age uncertainty, degradation and secondary impact craters have been analyzed.

Key words: crater size frequency distribution, SELENE TC data, geology interpretation, age, degradation craters, secondary craters