LAUSR

We investigate how different temperature gradients of the Moon affect the ejection of lithic and molten materials for impact basin several hundred kilometers in diameter to quantify the thickness and melt content of ejecta blanket as a function of radial distance. We find, by means of numerical modeling, that the ejecta thickness and melt content, similar to the basin formation, is sensitive to the thermal properties of the target. For two similar impact scenarios, the ejecta thickness with radial distance is proportional to a power law, but for a “warm” target, it declines faster than for a “cold” target. In addition, the impact on the warm target produces more molten ejecta than in the case of the cold target. The thermal effects on the ejecta thickness distribution can be testified by the topographic variations around Imbrium and Orientale basins, which were thought to be formed on a warm and cold Moon, respectively. Our study demonstrates that the thermal effect needs to be taken into account to estimate the ejecta thickness distribution for large-scale impact basins on airless planetary surfaces.