Comparisons of fresh complex impact craters on Mercury and the Moon: Implications for controlling factors in impact excavation processes.

Highlights: [•] We compare crater exterior structures for lunar and mercurian complex craters. [•] Lunar craters have larger continuous ejecta deposits but smaller secondary craters. [•] Some mercurian and few lunar craters have more circular, less clustered secondaries. [•] The results are consistent with predications from crater gravity-regime scaling laws. [•] Impactor velocity and target properties are less important in the excavation stage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]