Oscillating peak model of basin and crater formation

A model of crater and basin formation is presented in which the interior morphology is most strongly influenced by the amount of central rebound occurring rapidly after the initial crater excavation. In large craters the rebound is so great that it has started to collapse again under its own weight, and in small basins this collapse is so rapid that a second interior depression is formed. In large basins such as Orientale, the central region is considered to have undergone a more extensive damped vertical oscillation.Field evidence, particularly stratigraphical relations in Orientale and the morphometry of central peaks and basin inner rings, strongly support this theory.Paper presented at the European Workshop on Planetary Sciences, organised by the Laboratorio di Astrofisica Spaziale di Frascati, and held between April 23–27, 1979, at the Accademia Nazionale del Lincei in Rome, Italy.