{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,11]],"date-time":"2026-04-11T17:53:17Z","timestamp":1775929997400,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,14]],"date-time":"2019-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1571011200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Scientific Foundation of China","award":["U1831132"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U1831132"]}]},{"name":"National Scientific Foundation of China","award":["41374024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41374024"]}]},{"name":"Innovation Group of Natural Fund of Hubei province","award":["2018CFA087"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018CFA087"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Von K\u00e1rm\u00e1n Crater, within the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, is the landing site of China\u2019s Chang\u2019E-4 mission. To complement the in situ exploration mission and provide initial subsurface interpretation, we applied a 3D density inversion using the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) gravity data. We constrain our inversion method using known geological and geophysical lunar parameters to reduce the non-uniqueness associated with gravity inversion. The 3D density models reveal vertical and lateral density variations, 2600\u20133200 kg\/m3, assigned to the changing porosity beneath the Von K\u00e1rm\u00e1n Crater. We also identify two mass excess anomalies in the crust with a steep density contrast of 150 kg\/m3, which were suggested to have been caused by multiple impact cratering. The anomalies from recovered near surface density models, together with the gravity derivative maps extending to the lower crust, are consistent with surface geological manifestation of excavated mantle materials from remote sensing studies. Therefore, we suggest that the density distribution of the Von K\u00e1rm\u00e1n Crater indicates multiple episodes of impact cratering that resulted in formation and destruction of ancient craters, with crustal reworking and excavation of mantle materials.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s19204445","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,14]],"date-time":"2019-10-14T12:14:05Z","timestamp":1571055245000},"page":"4445","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Density Structure of the Von K\u00e1rm\u00e1n Crater in the Northwestern South Pole-Aitken Basin: Initial Subsurface Interpretation of the Chang\u2019E-4 Landing Site Region"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8312-6693","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chikondi","family":"Chisenga","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Box 129, Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, China"},{"name":"Department of Earth Sciences, Ndata School of Climate and Earth Sciences, Malawi University of Science and Technology, Limbe P.O. Box 5196, Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jianguo","family":"Yan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Box 129, Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiannan","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Geological Process and Mineral Resources, Planetary Science Institute, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China"},{"name":"School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qingyun","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Box 129, Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2112-9685","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean-Pierre","family":"Barriot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Box 129, Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, China"},{"name":"Geodesy Observatory of Tahiti, BP 6570, Faa\u2019a 98702, Tahiti, French Polynesia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Losiak, A., Wilhelms, D.E., Byrne, C.J., Thaisen, K.G., Weider, S.Z., Kohout, T., and Kring, D.A. 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