Terrestrial impact craters: Their spatial and temporal distribution and impacting bodies

The terrestrial impact record contains currently ~145 structures and includes the morphological crater types observed on the other terrestrial planets. It has, however, been severely modified by terrestrial geologic processes and is biased towards young (≤ 200 Ma) and large (≥ 20 km) impact structures on relatively well-studied cratonic areas. Nevertheless, the ground-truth data available from terrestrial impact structures have provided important constraints for the current understanding of cratering processes. If the known sample of impact structures is restricted to a subsample in which it is believed that all structures ≥ 20 km in diameter (D) have been discovered, the estimated terrestrial cratering rate is 5.5±2.7 × 10^?15km^?2a^?1 for D ≥ 20 km. This rate estimate is equivalent to that based on astronomical observations of Earth-crossing bodies. These rates are a factor of two higher, however, than the estimated post-mare cratering rate on the moon but the large uncertainties preclude definitive conclusions as to the significance of this observation. Statements regarding a periodicity in the terrestrial cratering record based on time-series analyses of crater ages are considered unjustified, based on statistical arguments and the large uncertainties attached to many crater age estimates. Trace element and isotopic analyses of generally siderophile group elements in impact lithologies, particularly impact melt rocks, have provided the basis for the identification of impacting body compositions at a number of structures. These range from meteoritic class, e.g., C-1 chondrite, to tentative identifications, e.g., stone?, depending on the quality and quantity of analytical data. The majority of the identifications indicate chondritic impacting bodies, particularly with respect to the larger impact structures. This may indicate an increasing role for cometary impacts at larger diameters; although, the data base is limited and some identifications are equivocal. To realize the full potential of the terrestrial impact record to constrain the character of the impact flux, it will be necessary to undertake additional and systematic isotopic and trace element analyses of impact lithologies at well-characterized terrestrial impact structures.     

A study of lunar impact crater size-distributions

Discrepancies in published crater frequency data prompted this study of lunar crater distributions. Effects modifying production size distributions of impact craters such as surface lava flows, blanketing by ejecta, superposition, infilling, and abrasion of craters, mass wasting, and the contribution of secondary and volcanic craters are discussed. The resulting criteria have been applied in the determination of the size distributions of unmodified impact crater populations in selected lunar regions of different ages. The measured cumulative crater frequencies are used to obtain a general calibration size distribution curve by a normalization procedure. It is found that the lunar impact crater size distribution is largely constant in the size range 0.3 km ?D ? 20 km for regions with formation ages between ≈ 3 × 10⁹ yr and ? 4 × 10⁹ yr. A polynomial of 4th degree, valid in the size range 0.8 km ?D ? 20 km, and a polynomial of 7th degree, valid in the size range 0.3 km ?D ? ? 20 km, have been approximated to the logarithm of the cumulative crater frequencyN as a function of the logarithm of crater diameterD. The resulting relationship can be expressed asN ～D ^α(D) where α is a function depending onD. This relationship allows the comparison of crater frequencies in different size ranges. Exponential relationships with constant α, commonly used in the literature, are shown to inadequately approximate the lunar impact crater size distribution. Deviations of measured size distributions from the calibration distribution are strongly suggestive of the existence of processes having modified the primary impact crater population.     

Cratering of the terrestrial planets by Apollo objects

Abstract— Absolute and relative cratering rates on the terrestrial planets have been calculated using the same asteroidal collision model and Monte Carlo program used for previous studies of the terrestrial meteorite flux, the steady-state number of Apollo-Amor objects, and the orbital distribution of both meteorites and Apollo-Amor objects. The most straightforward result is that projectiles from the asteroid belt appear to provide about one-third the observed present-day production of terrestrial craters larger than 10 km in diameter. When uncertainties in the calculations and observations are included, it cannot be excluded that the entire terrestrial cratering flux is asteroidal. On the other hand, assumption of an additional Apollo-Amor source of extinct comets, in the same quantity permitted by Apollo-Amor observations, provides better agreement with the observed cratering rate. In addition, a significant (e.g., ～30%) terrestrial contribution from active long and short period comets is acceptable within the uncertainties of the assumptions required. The ratios of the cratering rates on the different terrestrial planets are somewhat sensitive to the assumed source. A purely asteroidal source predicts a martian cratering rate per unit area about four times that on Earth, whereas the difference is reduced to about a factor of two for the mixed asteroid-extinct comet source. The opposite effect is found for Mercury. As discussed by previous authors, the predicted lunar cratering rate is significantly higher than that observed. It is not clear whether this is a result of scaling to impacts on a body considerably smaller than Earth, or if it indicates an increase in the cratering flux during the Phanerozoic.     

Size-Frequency Distribution of Small Lunar Craters: Widening with Degradation and Crater Lifetime

The review and new measurements are presented for depth/diameter ratio and slope angle evolution during small (D < 1 km) lunar impact craters aging (degradation). Comparative analysis of available data on the areal cratering density and on the crater degradation state for selected craters, dated with returned Apollo samples, in the first approximation confirms Neukum’s chronological model. The uncertainty of crater retention age due to crater degradational widening is estimated. The collected and analyzed data are discussed to be used in the future updating of mechanical models for lunar crater aging.     

The impact cratering record of Fennoscandia

The current database of craterform structures in Fennoscandia contains 22 structures of impact origin and about fifty other structures which lack sufficient evidence for impact. The discovery rate of new structures has been one or two per year during the past ten years. The proven impact structures are located in southern Fennoscandia and the majority have been found in Proterozoic target rocks. The age of the structures varies from prehistoric to ≤ 1000 Ma and their diameters (D) from 0.04 km to 55 km. Nine of the structures contain impact melt. A characteristic feature of the Fennoscandian impact record is a relatively large number of small (≤ 5 km) but old (> 200 Ma) structures: this is a result of success of geophysical methods to discover small but old impact structures in an eroded shield covered with relatively thin overburden. Some of the large circular structures in satellite images and/or in geophysical maps may represent deeply eroded scars of very old impacts, but due to the lack of shock metamorphic features, impact-generated rocks or identified ejecta layers, they cannot yet be classified as impact sites. Two huge structures are proposed here as possible impact sites on the basis of circular satellite images and distinct geophysical anomalies: the Lycksele structure in northern Sweden (D ~ 120 km, see also Witschard, 1984) and the Valga structure in Latvia/Estonia (D ~ 180 km). However, endogeneous explanations, like buried granites, basement domings, or fault-bounded blocks are also possible for these structures. Hints, such as distal ejecta layers or impact produced breccia dykes, of an Archaean or Early Proterozoic impact structure have not been found in Fennoscandia so far. New ways of searching for these structures are proposed with particular emphasis on high-resolution integrated geophysical methods. The impact cratering rate in Fennoscandia is ~ 2.0 · 10^?14 km^?2 a^?1 (for craters with D > 3 km) corresponding to about two events per every 100 Ma for the last 700 Ma. Due to erosion, this is a minimal estimate but is higher than the global rate probably due to strong research activity for finding impact structures in Fennoscandia.     

The terrestrial cratering record: I. Current status of observations

The location, size, and principal characteristics of the currently known proven and probable terrestrial impact structures are tabulated. Of the 78 known probable structures, only 3 are Precambrian and the majority are <300 my in age. A survey of the variation in preservation with size and age indicates that, unless protected by sedimentary cover, a structure <20 km in diameter has a recognizable life of <600 my. The depth-diameter relationships of terrestrial structures are similar to lunar craters; however, it is believed that terrestrial craters were always shallower than their lunar counterparts. Complex structures formed in sedimentary targets are shallower than those in crystalline targets, and the transition from simple to complex crater morphology occurs in sedimentary strata at approximately one-half the diameter of the morphology transition in crystalline rocks. This is a reflection of target strength. Although observations indicate that crater size, target strength, and surface gravity are variables in the formation of complex craters, they do not permit an unequivocal choice between collapse and rebound processes for the formation of complex structures. It may be that both processes act together in the modification of crater morphology during the later stages of excavation. The major emphasis of recent shock metamorphic studies has been toward the development of models of cratering processes. An important contribution has been the identification, through meteoritic contamination in the melt rocks, of the type of bolide at a number of probable impact structures. This has served to strengthen the link between the occurrence of shock metamorphic effects and their origin by hypervelocity meteorite impact.     

Cratering rates in the outer Solar System

This paper is a compilation by table, graph, and equation of impact cratering rates from Jupiter to Pluto. We use several independent constraints on the number of ecliptic comets. Together they imply that the impact rate on Jupiter by 1.5-km-diameter comets is currently ?(d > 1.5 km) = 0.005−0.003+0.006 per annum. Other kinds of impactors are currently unimportant on most worlds at most sizes. The size-number distribution of impactors smaller than 20 km is inferred from size-number distributions of impact craters on Europa, Ganymede, and Triton; while the size-number distribution of impacting bodies larger than 50 km is equated to the size-number distribution of Kuiper Belt objects. The gap is bridged by interpolation. It is notable that small craters on Jupiter’s moons indicate a pronounced paucity of small impactors, while small craters on Triton imply a collisional population rich in small bodies. However it is unclear whether the craters on Triton are of heliocentric or planetocentric origin. We therefore consider two cases for Saturn and beyond: a Case A in which the size-number distribution is like that inferred at Jupiter, and a Case B in which small objects obey a more nearly collisional distribution. Known craters on saturnian and uranian satellites are consistent with either case, although surface ages are much younger in Case B, especially at Saturn and Uranus. At Neptune and especially at Saturn our cratering rates are much higher than rates estimated by Shoemaker and colleagues, presumably because Shoemaker’s estimates mostly predate discovery of the Kuiper Belt. We also estimate collisional disruption rates of moons and compare these to estimates in the literature.     

Lunar crater depths from orbiter IV long-focus photographs

The paper presents method and results for the determination of the depths of more than 1900 small lunar craters from measures of shadows on the long-focus pictures obtained by Lunar Orbiter IV. The method for converting the measured shadow length into the true length in nature of the shadow hypotenuse is new and is applicable to other planetary bodies provided comparable spacecraft ephemerides are available. The measures were made with a simple surveyor's plotting scale on the standard Orbiter IV photographic enlargements. The results indicate that the smaller lunar (D < 30 km) craters are appreciably deeper than is indicated by earlier work using imagery obtained at terrestrial observatories.     

Does crater “saturation equilibrium” occur in the solar system?

Similarity is found in crater densities on the most heavily cratered surfaces throughout the solar system. This is hypothesized to result from a steady-state “saturation equilibrium” being approached or achieved by cratering processes. This hypothesis conflicts with some recent interpretations. However, it accounts for (1) a similarity in maximum relative crater density, below certain theoretically predicted values, on all heavily cratered surfaces; (2) a leveling off at this same relative density among 100-m scale (secondary?) craters in populations on lunar maria and other sparsely cratered lunar surfaces; (3) the approximate uniformity of maximum relative densities on Saturn satellites (in spite of dramatic variations predicted from nonsaturation models assuming heliocentric impactors). The lunar frontside upland crater population, sometimes described as a well-preserved production function useful for interpreting other planetary surfaces, is found not to be a production function. It was modified by intercrater plains formed (at least partly) by early upland basaltic lava flooding, recently confirmed spectrophotometrically. Consistent with this, counts in “pure uplands” (those lacking intercrater plains) match the proposed saturation equilibrium density. Variations among large (D > 64 km) crater populations are found, but these may involve several hypothesized mechanisms that rapidly obliterate large craters, especially on icy surfaces. Recent models, in which different populations of interplanetary bodies hit different planets, need further appraisal.     

Earth/Moon impact rate comparison: Searching constraints for lunar secondary/primary cratering proportion

Published data for global impact rate of bolides are compared with the cratering rate on the Moon in the past 100 Ma (assumed to be constant). The comparison shows, that in the limits of used models accuracy, the current meteoroid flux in the Earth-Moon system is approximately the same as in the last 100 Ma, provided most of the small (D<200 m) craters counted on the young (?100 Ma) lunar surface are primary, not secondary craters.     

The transition from complex crater to peak-ring basin on the Moon: New observations from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument

Impact craters on planetary bodies transition with increasing size from simple, to complex, to peak-ring basins and finally to multi-ring basins. Important to understanding the relationship between complex craters with central peaks and multi-ring basins is the analysis of protobasins (exhibiting a rim crest and interior ring plus a central peak) and peak-ring basins (exhibiting a rim crest and an interior ring). New data have permitted improved portrayal and classification of these transitional features on the Moon. We used new 128 pixel/degree gridded topographic data from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, combined with image mosaics, to conduct a survey of craters >50 km in diameter on the Moon and to update the existing catalogs of lunar peak-ring basins and protobasins. Our updated catalog includes 17 peak-ring basins (rim-crest diameters range from 207 km to 582 km, geometric mean = 343 km) and 3 protobasins (137-170 km, geometric mean = 157 km). Several basins inferred to be multi-ring basins in prior studies (Apollo, Moscoviense, Grimaldi, Freundlich-Sharonov, Coulomb-Sarton, and Korolev) are now classified as peak-ring basins due to their similarities with lunar peak-ring basin morphologies and absence of definitive topographic ring structures greater than two in number. We also include in our catalog 23 craters exhibiting small ring-like clusters of peaks (50-205 km, geometric mean = 81 km); one (Humboldt) exhibits a rim-crest diameter and an interior morphology that may be uniquely transitional to the process of forming peak rings. A power-law fit to ring diameters (D_ring) and rim-crest diameters (D_r) of peak-ring basins on the Moon [D_ring = 0.14 ± 0.10(D_r)^1.21±0.13] reveals a trend that is very similar to a power-law fit to peak-ring basin diameters on Mercury [D_ring = 0.25 ± 0.14(D_rim)^1.13±0.10] [Baker, D.M.H. et al. [2011]. Planet. Space Sci., in press]. Plots of ring/rim-crest ratios versus rim-crest diameters for peak-ring basins and protobasins on the Moon also reveal a continuous, nonlinear trend that is similar to trends observed for Mercury and Venus and suggest that protobasins and peak-ring basins are parts of a continuum of basin morphologies. The surface density of peak-ring basins on the Moon (4.5 × 10⁻⁷ per km²) is a factor of two less than Mercury (9.9 × 10⁻⁷ per km²), which may be a function of their widely different mean impact velocities (19.4 km/s and 42.5 km/s, respectively) and differences in peak-ring basin onset diameters. New calculations of the onset diameter for peak-ring basins on the Moon and the terrestrial planets re-affirm previous analyses that the Moon has the largest onset diameter for peak-ring basins in the inner Solar System. Comparisons of the predictions of models for the formation of peak-ring basins with the characteristics of the new basin catalog for the Moon suggest that formation and modification of an interior melt cavity and nonlinear scaling of impact melt volume with crater diameter provide important controls on the development of peak rings. In particular, a power-law model of growth of an interior melt cavity with increasing crater diameter is consistent with power-law fits to the peak-ring basin data for the Moon and Mercury. We suggest that the relationship between the depth of melting and depth of the transient cavity offers a plausible control on the onset diameter and subsequent development of peak-ring basins and also multi-ring basins, which is consistent with both planetary gravitational acceleration and mean impact velocity being important in determining the onset of basin morphological forms on the terrestrial planets.     

Horizontal transport of the regolith,modification of features,and erosion rates on the lunar surface

New lunar soils, freshly deposited as impact ejecta, evolve into more mature soils by a complex set of processes involving both near-surface effects and mixing. Poor vertical mixing statistics and interregional exchange by impact ejection complicate the interpretation of soil maturization. Impact ejecta systematics are developed for the smaller cratering events which, with cumulative crater populations observed in young mare regions and on Copernicus ejecta fields, yield rates and a range distribution for the horizontal transport of material by impact processes. The deposition rate for material originating more than 1 m away is found to be about 8 mm m.y.^?1 Material from 10 km away accumulates at a rate of about 0.08 mm m.y.^?1, providing a steady influx of foreign material. From the degradation of boulder tracks, a rate of 5±3 cm m.y.^?1 is computed for the filling of shallow lunar depressions on slopes. Mass wastage and downslope movement of bedrock outcroppings on Hadley Rille seems to be proceeding at a rate of about 8 mm m.y.^?1 The Camelot profile is suggestive of a secondary impact feature.     

On the accretion of the earth and moon

The bodies which produced the premare impact craters on the moon contained a much higher proportion of smaller bodies in the earliest observable times than subsequently. This suggests that the earth and moon accreted from small objects with only an occasional large planetoid.If the earliest observable lunar craters are 4.3 × 10⁹ yr old, the half-life of the primitive planetesimals which produced the giant lunar craters larger than 161 km in diameter, was 143 × 10⁶ yr, while the half-life of the primitive planetesimals which produced lunar craters larger than 1 km in diameter was only 88 × 10⁶ yr. The half-life of the bodies which produced 1 km craters was still shorter, about 75 × 10⁶ yr.     

Petrogenesis of lunar impact melt rock meteorite Oued Awlitis 001

Oued Awlitis 001 is a highly feldspathic, moderately equilibrated, clast‐rich, poikilitic impact melt rock lunar meteorite that was recovered in 2014. Its poikilitic texture formed due to moderately slow cooling, which judging from textures of rocks in melt sheets of terrestrial impact structures, is observed in impact melt volumes at least 100 m thick. Such coherent impact melt volumes occur in lunar craters larger than ~50 km in diameter. The composition of Oued Awlitis 001 points toward a crustal origin distant from incompatible‐element‐rich regions. Comparison of the bulk composition of Oued Awlitis 001 with Lunar Prospector 5° γ‐ray spectrometer data indicates a limited region of matches on the lunar farside. After its initial formation in an impact crater larger than ~50 km in diameter, Oued Awlitis 001 was excavated from a depth greater than ~50 m. The cosmogenic nuclide inventory of Oued Awlitis 001 records ejection from the Moon 0.3 Ma ago from a depth of at least 4 m and little mass loss due to ablation during its passage through Earth's atmosphere. The terrestrial residence time must have been very short, probably less than a few hundred years; its exact determination was precluded by a high concentration of solar cosmic ray‐produced ¹⁴C. If the impact that excavated Oued Awlitis 001 also launched it, this event likely produced an impact crater >10 km in diameter. Using petrologic constraints and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera and Diviner data, we test Giordano Bruno and Pierazzo as possible launch craters for Oued Awlitis 001.     

Martian cratering 8: Isochron refinement and the chronology of Mars

This paper reviews and refines the technique of dating martian surfaces by using impact-crater isochrons (defined as size distributions of impact craters on undisturbed martian surfaces of specified ages). In the 1970s, this system identified not only abundant ancient martian volcanic surfaces, but also extensive lava plains with ages of a few 10⁸ y-old; this dating was initially controversial but confirmed in the 1980s and 90s by martian meteorites. The present update utilizes updated estimates of the Mars/Moon cratering ratio (the most important calibration factor), improves treatment of gravity and impact velocity scaling effects, combines aspects of the crater size distribution data from earlier work by both Neukum and Hartmann, and for the first time applies a correction for loss of small meteoroids in the martian atmosphere from Popova et al. (2003, Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 38, 905-925). The updated isochrons are not radically different from the previous “2002 iteration” but fit observed data better and give somewhat older model ages for features dated from small craters (diameter D<100 m). Crater counts from young lava flows in various areas give good fits to the new isochrons over as much as 3 orders of magnitude in D, confirming the general isochron shape and giving crater retention ages in the range of some 10⁶ to some 10⁸ y, interpreted as lava flow ages. More complex, older units are also discussed. Uncertainties are greatest if only small craters (D?100 m) are used. Suggestions by other workers of gross uncertainties, due to local secondary craters and deposition/exhumation, are discussed; they do not refute our conclusions of significant volcanic, fluvial, and other geologic activity in the last few percent of martian geologic time or the importance of cratering as a tool for studying processes such as exhumation. Indeed, crater count data suggest certain very recent episodes of deposition, exhumation, and ice flow, possibly associated with obliquity cycles of ∼¹⁰⁷ y timescale. Evidence from ancient surfaces suggests higher rates of volcanism, fluvial activity, glaciation, and other processes in Noachian/Hesperian time than in Amazonian time.     

Martian planetwide crater distributions: Implications for geologic history and surface processes

Population-density maps of craters in three size ranges (0.6 to 1.2 km, 4 to 10 km, and >20 km in diameter) were compiled for most of Mars from Mariner 9 imagery. These data provide: historical records of the eolian processes (0.6 to 1.2 km craters); stratigraphic, relative, and absolute timescales (4 to 10 km craters); and a history of the early postaccretional evolution of the uplands (> 20 km craters).Based on the distribution of large craters (>20 km diameters), Mars is divisible into two general classes of terrain, densely cratered and very lightly cratered—a division remarkably like the uplands-maria dichotomy of the moon. It is probable that this bimodal character in the density distribution of large craters arose from an abrupt transition in the impact flux rate from an early intense period associated with the tailing off of accretion to an extended quiescent epoch, not from a void in geological activity during much of Mars' history. Radio-isotope studies of Apollo lunar samples show that this transition occurred on the moon in a short time.The intermediate-sized craters (4 to 10 km diameter) and the small-sized craters (0.6 to 1.2 km diameter) appear to be genetically related. The smaller ones are apparently secondary impact craters generated by the former. Most of the craters in the larger of these two size classes appear fresh and uneroded, although many are partly buried by dust mantles. Poleward of the 40° parallels the small fresh craters are notably absent owing to these mantles. The density of small craters is highest in an irregular band centered at 20°S. This band coincides closely with (1) the zone of permanent low-albedo markings; (2) the “wind equator” (the latitude of zero net north or south transport at the surface); and (3) a band that includes a majority of the small dendritic channels. Situated in the southermost part of the equatorial unmantled terrain which extends from about 40°N to 40°S, this band is apparently devoid of even a thin mantle. Because this belt is also coincident with the latitutde of maximum solar insolation (periapsis occurs near summer solstice), we suggest that this band arises from the asymmetrical global wind patterns at the surface and that the band probably follows the latitude of maximum heating which migrates north and south from 25°N to 25°S within the unmantled terrain on a 50,000 year timescale.The population of intermediate-sized craters (4–10 km diameter) appears unaffected by the eolian mantles, at least within the ±45° latitudes. Hence the local density of these craters is probably a valid indicator of the relative age of surfaces generated during the period since the uplands were intensely bombarded and eroded. It now appears that the impact fluxes at Mars and the moon have been roughly the same over the last 4 b.y. because the oldest postaccretional, mare-like surfaces on Mars and the moon display about the same crater density. If so, the nearness of Mars to the asteroid belt has not generated a flux 10 to 25 times greater than the lunar flux. Whereas the lunar maria show a variation of about a factor of three in crater density from the oldest to the youngest major units, analogous surfaces on Mars show a variation between 30 and 50. This implies that periods of active eolian erosion, tectonic evolution, volcanic eruption, and possibly fluvial modification have been scattered throughout Martian history since the formation and degradation of the martian uplands and not confined to small, ancient or recent, epochs. These processes are surely active on the planet today.     

Possible long-term decline in impact rates: 2. Lunar impact-melt data regarding impact history

Crater counts at lunar landing sites with measured ages establish a steep decline in cratering rate during the period ∼3.8 to ∼3.1 Gyr ago. Most models of the time dependence suggest a roughly constant impact rate (within factor ∼2) after about 3 Gyr ago, but are based on sparse data. Recent dating of impact melts from lunar meteorites, and Apollo glass spherules, clarifies impact rates from ∼3.2 to ∼2 Gyr ago or less. Taken together, these data suggest a decline with roughly 700 Myr half-life around 3 Gyr ago, and a slower decline after that, dropping by a factor ∼3 from about ∼2.3 Gyr ago until the present. Planetary cratering involved several phases with different time behaviors: (1) rapid sweep-up of most primordial planetesimals into planets in the first hundred Myr, (2) possible later effects of giant planet migration with enhanced cratering, (3) longer term sweep-up of leftover planetesimals, and finally (4) the present long-term “leakage” of asteroids from reservoirs such as the main asteroid belt and Kuiper belt. In addition, at any given point on the Moon, a pattern of “spikes” (sharp maxima of relatively narrow time width) will appear in the production rate of smaller craters (?500 m?), not only from secondary debris from large primary lunar impacts at various distances from the point in question, but also from asteroid breakups dotted through Solar System history. The pattern of spikes varies according to type of sample being measured (i.e., glass spherules vs impact melts). For example, several data sets show an impact rate spike ∼470 Myr ago associated with the asteroid belt collision that produced the L chondrites (see Section 3.6 below). Such spikes should be less prominent in the production record of craters of D? few km. These phenomena affect estimates of planetary surfaces ages from crater counts, as discussed in a companion paper [Quantin, C., Mangold, N., Hartmann, W.K., Allemand, P., 2007. Icarus 186, 1-10]. Fewer impact melts and glass spherules are found at ∼3.8 Gyr than at ∼3.5 Gyr ago, even though the impact rate itself is known to have been higher at 3.8 Gyr ago than 3.5 Gyr. This disproves the assertion by Ryder [Ryder, G., 1990. EOS 71, 313, 322-323] and Cohen et al. [Cohen, B.A., Swindle, T.D., Kring, D.A., 2000. Science 290, 1754-1756] that ancient impact melts are a direct proxy for ancient impact (cf. Section 3.3). This result raises questions about how to interpret cratering history before 3.8 Gyr ago.     

Terrestrial impact: The record in the rocks*

Abstract— Approximately 130 terrestrial craters are currently known. They range up to 140 km, and perhaps as much as 200 km, in diameter and from Recent to ～2 billion years in age. The known sample, however, is highly biased to geologically young craters on the better known cratonic areas. The sample is also deficient in small (D < 20 km) craters compared to other planetary bodies. These biases are largely the result of active terrestrial geologic processes and their effects have to be considered when interpreting the record. The strength of the terrestrial cratering record lies in the availability of ground truth data, particularly on the structural and lithological nature of craters, which can be interpreted to understand and constrain large-scale impact processes. Some contributions include the definition of the concept of transient cavity formation and structural uplift during cratering events. Depths of excavation are poorly constrained, as very few terrestrial craters have preserved ejecta. Unlike their planetary counterparts, terrestrial impact craters are mostly recognized not by morphology but by the occurrence of characteristic shock metamorphic effects. Their study has led to models of shock wave attenuation and an understanding of the character and formation of various impact-lithologies, including impact melt rocks. They, in turn, aid in interpreting the nature of extraterrestrial samples, particularly samples from the lunar highlands. The recognition of diagnostic shock metamorphic effects and the signature of projectile contamination through geochemical anomalies in impact lithologies provide the basis for recognizing the impact signature in K/T boundary samples. The record also provides a basis for testing hypotheses of periodic cometary showers. Although inherently not suitable to define short wavelength periods in time due to relatively large uncertainties associated with crater ages, the current record shows no evidence of periodicity. Future directions in terrestrial impact studies will likely continue to focus on the K/T and related problems, including the recognition of other impact signatures in the stratigraphic record. Some emphasis will likely be given to the economic potential of craters and individual large structures, such as Sudbury, will provide an increasingly better understood context for interpreting planetary impact craters. To live up to the full potential of the record to constrain impact processes, however, more basic characterization studies are required, in addition to emphasis on topical areas of study.     

Cepheid kinematics and the Galactic warp

The space velocities of 200 long-period (P>5 days) classical Cepheids with known proper motions and line-of-sight velocities whose distances were estimated from the period-luminosity relation have been analyzed. The linear Ogorodnikov-Milne model has been applied, with the Galactic rotation having been excluded from the observed velocities in advance. Two significant gradients have been found in the Cepheid velocities, ?W/?Y = ?2.1 ± 0.7 km s^?1 kpc^?1 and ?V/?Z = 27 ± 10 km s^?1 kpc^?1. In such a case, the angular velocity of solid-body rotation around the Galactic X axis directed to the Galactic center is ?15 ± 5 km s^?1 kpc^?1.