Abstract The surfaces of most of the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn show marks of large-meteoroid impacts produced over much of solar system history and partly stemming from the early post-accretional heavy bombardment. An analysis of the crater size distributions shows that (i) crater densities on the most ancient terrains are comparable to those found on the lunar highlands, (ii) crater size distributions differ somewhat from those in the inner solar system but exhibit striking similarities in shape, (iii) the crater size distributions on all terrain types from oldest to youngest are very similar, i. e. the underlying impactor size distribution does not seem to have changed over time, (iv) there is no obvious difference in crater densities between apex and antapex parts of the satellites, (v) the cratering record can better be explained by impacts from bodies in planetocentric orbits rather than by bodies in heliocentric orbits.
Cratering records of the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn
Advances in Space Research ; 5 , 8 ; 107-116
1985-01-01
10 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
The satellites of Jupiter and Saturn: Surface conditions and properties
Online Contents | 1982
|Cratering of planetary satellites
NTRS | 1986
|Mariner Jupiter/Saturn Project
NTIS | 1973