CLUSTER ANALYSIS OF RECENTLY FORMED MARTIAN CRATER FIELDS

Abstract

The catalogue of recently formed meteoroid impact sites on Mars provides an opportunity to study the meteoroid population common to Earth and Mars. Cluster analysis was applied to analyse the catalogue data. The number of clusters varies depending on the method chosen; regardless of the method, clusters with a dominant major crater and clusters with a large number of relatively small craters are distinguished into separate groups. A third frequently distinguished group is one with two comparable large craters. The plotted cumulative distributions of craters in clusters by mass showed that the slope of the distribution was significantly different for the group with small craters. Cluster analysis suggested cluster partitioning correlated with previously proposed cluster classifications. Attempts to find a partitioning into groups reflecting the relationship between height above the mean surface and mean cluster size did not lead to a positive result, nor does the dependence of the number of craters on height above the mean surface.