Fig. 3: Formation of topographic rings during impact-basin formation.
From: Large impact cratering during lunar magma ocean solidification
a Snapshot of the basin stratigraphy and b total plastic strain in the late modification stage when a peak ring expected to form. The panels on the right include a melt layer between the crust and mantle, whereas the left panels show results without a melt layer. Both a, b show the formation of faults, a via fault slips represented by a change in stratigraphy, and b via localized focusing of the plastic strain. Left plots show the formation of two rings, the peak ring and the rim/outer ring (at ~270 km and 410 km), typical for the large lunar basins, and the right plots show multiple faults forming at depth that are inhibited from extending to the surface due to the existence of the melt layer (its radial range is approximated from 280 km to 460 km). Beige colour denotes the crust, light orange is the melt layer and dark orange is the underlying solid mantle. The higher the strain the darker the colours, as shown in legend.
