The effects of differential scaling of impact melt and crater dimensions on lunar and terrestrial craters: Some brief examples

Three of the principal variables in scaling impact-crater dimensions are the impact velocity, the projectile size, and the gravitational acceleration of the target body. The amount of impact melt generated by an impact, however, is independent of gravity, but will grow in direct proportion to the projectile dimensions and as an increasing function of the impact velocity. Thus, if the impact velocity and gravitational acceleration were held constant and projectiles of increasing size were considered, the amount of melt generated relative to the dimensions of the final crater would grow at a steady rate. Using the Earth and the Moon...