Study of Martian Subsurface Material from Size Frequency Distribution of Secondary Craters

Abstract

From our results of experimental study of cratering formation on ice-rock mixture targets, crater volume decreases with increasing silicate content by 50wt%. Because secondary craters made by low velocity impacts of the ejecta from craters are small in scale, the laboratory results can be applied to them. We study whether the distribution of epithermal neutron flux measured by Mars Odyssey correlates with the size frequency distribution of secondary craters on Mars and discuss whether the size frequency distribution of Martian secondary crater is an indicator of the distribution of water ice.