| Name: Mudia. Prashanthi |
| Affiliation: Osmania university |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_639 |
| Title: Geomorphological analysis of small impact craters at the Chandrayaan-3 landing site with implications for regolith properties |
| Abstract Type: Poster |
| Abstract Category: Sun, Solar System, Exoplanets, and Astrobiology |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: M.R.M.C. Prashanthi(Osmania university, Hyderabad-500007,India), P. Senthil Kumar(CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad-500007,India), J. Rukmini(Osmania university, Hyderabad-500007,India) |
| Abstract: The Chandrayaan-3 mission achieved a successful soft landing in the lunar south polar region, that provides a unique opportunity to investigate surface and near-subsurface regolith properties. Regolith is an upper few meters thick soft sedimentary layer, which throws light on the lunar surface processes. Although many previous studies addressed the nature of materials present at the Chandrayaan-3 landing site, thickness of regolith layer and origins of impact ejecta materials present at the landing site are poorly known. Therefore, this study focuses on investigating regolith thickness at the Chandrayaan-3 landing site using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images. Thickness of regolith is calculated using the morphometric measurements of crater rim and floor regions of small sized (roughly 10-100 m diameter) fresh impact craters . The impact craters such as concentric craters, polygonal craters and central mound craters are identified and the measurements of crater diameter and floor diameter are measured. The excavation depths are estimated using standard scaling relationship between crater diameter and depth. The differences in the morphological characteristics of craters in relation to features such as slope, roughness, and surface maturity are examined. In addition, mapping of recently formed impact craters is performed to understand the distribution of freshly excavated materials from the near-surface region of the regolith. These materials can be sampled by future missions. In addition, various sources of ejecta materials present at the landing site are identified. We also identify various surface features such as faults, boulder falls and landslides at the landing site for better understanding of recent surface processes.
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