Characterisation of surface topography and mineralogy of Cardanus and Krafft craters in the western Procellarum region of Moon

Abstract

The craters on the lunar surface represent unique morphological and mineralogical characteristics. Cardanus (13.2°N; 72.4°W) and Krafft craters (16.6°N; 72.6°W) present in the equatorial transition region of the Moon represents distinctive features. The morphology of crater is studied using high-resolution data of Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) and Wide Angle Camera (WAC) onboard Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Both the craters exhibit unique features like irregular central mound features, ejecta deposition in the outer rim and terraced feature in the inner rim of both the craters. The craters have fractured features with different source of origin. Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data is used to generate the profile graph of crater floor and measurement of morphometric features such as elevation of central mound, floor depth, and crater rim to floor height. Further, mineralogical study is carried out using Chandrayaan-1 Moon mineralogy mapper (M³) and Clementine multispectral dataset in which certain minerals such as mafic and anorthosites are found. The integrated band depth technique is calculated using M³ datasets for the estimation of certain mafic minerals. It is concluded that the Cardanus surface is rich in pyroxene and feldspathic minerals, while the Krafft crater surface has the presence of clinopyroxene-olivine mixture. The study reveals the unique morphology and mineralogy of both the crater belonging to same geological age, i.e., Late Imbrium Period.