{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T01:19:44Z","timestamp":1778548784904,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,20]],"date-time":"2024-07-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1721433600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"B-type Strategic Priority Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["XDB41000000"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDB41000000"]}]},{"name":"B-type Strategic Priority Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["12173011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["12173011"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["XDB41000000"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDB41000000"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["12173011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["12173011"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Based on the measurements of regolith thicknesses on the lunar maria (basalts), the lunar regolith was determined to have accumulated at a rate of about 1 m\/Gyr since the era of the late heavy bombardment. However, regolith production on porous targets (e.g., crater ejecta deposits) is less studied, especially for Copernican units, and how target properties affect regolith production is not well understood. Here, we measured regolith thicknesses on the ejecta blanket of the Copernicus crater, showing that the regolith production rate sensitively depends on the initial target properties. The regolith production rate of the Copernicus ejecta blanket (3.0 \u00b1 0.1 m\/Gyr) is significantly larger than that of the Copernicus impact melt, which was previously estimated to be 1.2 \u00b1 0.2 m\/Gyr. Although crater production varies with different targets, our observed crater density of the Copernicus impact melt is indistinguishable from that of the Copernicus ejecta because impacts fracture the melt, causing it to resemble the ejecta. However, due to the fact that the formation of crater ejecta had already caused them to undergo fragmentation, ejecta require fewer fragmentation times to become regolith compared to impact melt; thus, the growth of regolith on the ejecta is faster than the melt. This indicates that similar observed size\u2013frequency distributions do not indicate similar regolith production, especially for the targets with significant differences in initial physical properties.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs16142650","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,22]],"date-time":"2024-07-22T12:20:38Z","timestamp":1721650838000},"page":"2650","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Effect of Target Properties on Regolith Production"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Minggang","family":"Xie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541000, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541000, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Melosh, H.J. (1989). Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process, Oxford University Press."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"McKay, D.S., Heiken, G., Basu, A., Blanford, G., Simon, S., Reedy, R., French, B.M., and Papike, J. (1991). The lunar regolith. Lunar Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2020GL088334","DOI":"10.1029\/2020GL088334","article-title":"Rethinking Lunar Mare Basalt Regolith Formation: New Concepts of Lava Flow Protolith and Evolution of Regolith Thickness and Internal Structure","volume":"47","author":"Head","year":"2020","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E10011","DOI":"10.1029\/2012JE004138","article-title":"Rates of temperature change of airless landscapes and implications for thermal stress weathering","volume":"117","author":"Molaro","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Fruchter, J., Rancitelli, L., Laul, J., and Perkins, R. (1977, January 14\u201318). Lunar regolith dynamics based on analysis of the cosmogenic radionuclides Na-22, Al-26, and Mn-53. Proceedings of the 8th Lunar Science Conference, Houston, TX, USA."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4005","DOI":"10.1007\/s11434-010-4198-9","article-title":"Global inventory of Helium-3 in lunar regoliths estimated by a multi-channel microwave radiometer on the Chang-E 1 lunar satellite","volume":"55","author":"Fa","year":"2010","journal-title":"Chinese. Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"128","DOI":"10.1038\/s41550-020-01241-8","article-title":"Change in the Earth\u2013Moon impactor population at about 3.5 billion years ago","volume":"5","author":"Xie","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. Astron."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"650","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actaastro.2021.01.005","article-title":"Regolith-based additive manufacturing for sustainable development of lunar infrastructure\u2014An overview","volume":"180","author":"Isachenkov","year":"2021","journal-title":"Acta Astronaut."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00567507","article-title":"Shallow lunar structure determined from the passive seismic experiment","volume":"13","author":"Nakamura","year":"1975","journal-title":"Moon"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"291","DOI":"10.1029\/RG012i003p00291","article-title":"Lunar near-surface structure","volume":"12","author":"Cooper","year":"1974","journal-title":"Rev. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5247","DOI":"10.1029\/JB073i016p05247","article-title":"Thickness determinations of the lunar surface layer from lunar impact craters","volume":"73","author":"Quaide","year":"1968","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1914","DOI":"10.1002\/2013JE004604","article-title":"Regolith thickness over Sinus Iridum: Results from morphology and size-frequency distribution of small impact craters","volume":"119","author":"Fa","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"130","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2014.03.020","article-title":"The quantitative relationship between small impact crater morphology and regolith depth","volume":"235","author":"Bart","year":"2014","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2015.12.013","article-title":"Lunar regolith thickness determination from 3D morphology of small fresh craters","volume":"267","author":"Di","year":"2016","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6081","DOI":"10.1029\/JB074i025p06081","article-title":"Observations of the lunar regolith and the Earth from the television camera on Surveyor 7","volume":"74","author":"Shoemaker","year":"1969","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1029\/RS005i002p00129","article-title":"Physical Characteristics of the Lunar Regolith Determined From Surveyor Television Observations","volume":"5","author":"Shoemaker","year":"1970","journal-title":"Radio Sci."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"695","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1945-5100.2005.tb00974.x","article-title":"Constraints on the depth and variability of the lunar regolith","volume":"40","author":"Wilcox","year":"2005","journal-title":"Meteorit. Planet. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"771","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2012.01.010","article-title":"Regolith thickness over the lunar nearside: Results from Earth-based 70-cm Arecibo radar observations","volume":"218","author":"Fa","year":"2012","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1006\/icar.2000.6545","article-title":"Regolith layer thickness mapping of the Moon by radar and optical data","volume":"149","author":"Shkuratov","year":"2001","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2764","DOI":"10.1109\/JSTARS.2023.3253499","article-title":"Moon-Based Ground Penetrating Radar Derivation of the Helium-3 Reservoir in the Regolith at the Chang\u2019E-3 Landing Site","volume":"16","author":"Ding","year":"2023","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"527","DOI":"10.1002\/2017JE005377","article-title":"The Role of Breccia Lenses in Regolith Generation From the Formation of Small, Simple Craters: Application to the Apollo 15 Landing Site","volume":"123","author":"Hirabayashi","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"485","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2011.07.017","article-title":"Global survey of lunar regolith depths from LROC images","volume":"215","author":"Bart","year":"2011","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10987","DOI":"10.1029\/2019GL084097","article-title":"Time-Dependent Production Functions of Lunar Simple Craters on Layered Targets With Consideration of Topographic Degradation","volume":"46","author":"Xie","year":"2019","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1243","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pss.2010.03.015","article-title":"Map-projection-independent crater size-frequency determination in GIS environments\u2014New software tool for ArcGIS","volume":"59","author":"Kneissl","year":"2011","journal-title":"Planet. Space Sci."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4697","DOI":"10.1029\/JZ072i018p04697","article-title":"Estimated thickness of a fragmental surface layer of Oceanus Procellarum","volume":"72","author":"Oberbeck","year":"1967","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1007\/s11214-010-9634-2","article-title":"Lunar reconnaissance orbiter camera (LROC) instrument overview","volume":"150","author":"Robinson","year":"2010","journal-title":"Space Sci. Rev."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"891","DOI":"10.1111\/maps.12990","article-title":"Revised recommended methods for analyzing crater size-frequency distributions","volume":"53","author":"Robbins","year":"2018","journal-title":"Meteorit. Planet. Sci."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"Bevington, P.R., and Robinson, D.K. (2003). Data Reduction and Error Analysis for Physical Sciences, McGraw-Hill."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.1016\/0019-1035(73)90141-3","article-title":"Monte Carlo calculations of lunar regolith thickness distributions","volume":"19","author":"Oberbeck","year":"1973","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2023JE008035","DOI":"10.1029\/2023JE008035","article-title":"Modeling the Evolution of Lunar Regolith: 2. Growth Rate and Spatial Distribution","volume":"128","author":"Zhang","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"273","DOI":"10.1029\/RS005i002p00273","article-title":"Saturation and equilibrium conditions for impact cratering on the lunar surface: Criteria and implications","volume":"5","author":"Gault","year":"1970","journal-title":"Radio Sci."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"310","DOI":"10.1016\/j.asr.2007.04.062","article-title":"Planned radiometrically calibrated and geometrically corrected products of lunar high-resolution Terrain Camera on SELENE","volume":"42","author":"Haruyama","year":"2008","journal-title":"Adv. Space Res."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115336","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2022.115336","article-title":"New insights into lunar terrain properties and their effect on derivation of absolute model ages using Apollo landing sites","volume":"391","author":"Kirchoff","year":"2023","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2021JE007131","DOI":"10.1029\/2021JE007131","article-title":"The Effects of Terrain Properties Upon the Small Crater Population Distribution at Giordano Bruno: Implications for Lunar Chronology","volume":"127","author":"Williams","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1011937020193","article-title":"Stratigraphy and isotope ages of lunar geologic units: Chronological standard for the inner solar system","volume":"96","author":"Ryder","year":"2001","journal-title":"Space Sci. Rev."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2277","DOI":"10.1002\/2015JE004860","article-title":"Size-frequency distribution of crater populations in equilibrium on the Moon","volume":"120","author":"Xiao","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1186\/BF03352461","article-title":"Testing hypotheses for the origin of steep slope of lunar size-frequency distribution for small craters","volume":"55","author":"Namiki","year":"2003","journal-title":"Earth Planets Space"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E00H10","DOI":"10.1029\/2011JE003935","article-title":"How old are young lunar craters?","volume":"117","author":"Hiesinger","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_39","first-page":"1202","article-title":"Effects of incidence angle on crater counting observations","volume":"42","author":"Ostrach","year":"2011","journal-title":"Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117963","DOI":"10.1016\/j.epsl.2022.117963","article-title":"A new chronology from debiased crater densities: Implications for the origin and evolution of lunar impactors","volume":"602","author":"Xie","year":"2023","journal-title":"Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Hess, W., Menzel, D., and O\u2019Keeffe, J. (1965). Preliminary analysis of the fine structure of the lunar surface in Mare Cognitum. The Nature of the Lunar Surface, Johns Hopkins Press."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"535","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.earth.34.031405.125018","article-title":"The importance of secondary cratering to age constraints on planetary surfaces","volume":"34","author":"McEwen","year":"2006","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1186\/s40562-018-0116-9","article-title":"On the importance of self-secondaries","volume":"5","author":"Xiao","year":"2018","journal-title":"Geosci. Lett."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4936","DOI":"10.1088\/0004-6256\/137\/6\/4936","article-title":"A new chronology for the Moon and Mercury","volume":"137","author":"Marchi","year":"2009","journal-title":"Astron. J."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2014.03.011","article-title":"The production of small primary craters on Mars and the Moon","volume":"235","author":"Williams","year":"2014","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10,171","DOI":"10.1002\/2017GL075298","article-title":"Effect of Topography Degradation on Crater Size-Frequency Distributions: Implications for Populations of Small Craters and Age Dating","volume":"44","author":"Xie","year":"2017","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E11002","DOI":"10.1029\/2007JE002894","article-title":"Modeling impact cratering in layered surfaces","volume":"112","author":"Senft","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ahrens, T.J., Xia, K., and Coker, D. (2002). Depth of cracking beneath impact craters: New constraint for impact velocity. AIP Conference Proceedings, Proceedings of the Shock Compression of Condensed Matter\u20142001: 12th APS Topical Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, 24\u201329 June 2001, AIP Publishing.","DOI":"10.1063\/1.1483799"}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/16\/14\/2650\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T15:20:07Z","timestamp":1760109607000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/16\/14\/2650"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,20]]},"references-count":48,"journal-issue":{"issue":"14","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7]]}},"alternative-id":["rs16142650"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs16142650","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,20]]}}}