  We model the primary crater production of small (D < 100 m) primary craters
on Mars and the Moon using the observed annual flux of terrestrial fireballs.
From the size-frequency distribution (SFD) of meteor diameters, with
appropriate velocity distributions for Mars and the Moon, we are able to
reproduce martian and lunar crater-count chronometry systems (isochrons) in
both slope and magnitude. We include an atmospheric model for Mars that
accounts for the deceleration, ablation, and fragmentation of meteors. We find
that the details of the atmosphere or the fragmentation of the meteors do not
strongly influence our results. The downturn in the crater SFD from atmospheric
filtering is predicted to occur at D ~ 10-20 cm, well below the downturn
observed in the distribution of fresh craters detected by the Mars Global
Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) or the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
(MRO) Context Camera (CTX). Crater counts conducted on the ejecta blanket of
Zunil crater on Mars and North Ray crater on the Moon yielded crater SFDs with
similar slopes and ages (~1 Ma, and ~58 Ma, respectively) to our model,
indicating that the average cratering rate has been constant on these bodies
over these time periods. Since our Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the
existing crater chronology systems can be applied to date young surfaces using
small craters on the Moon and Mars, we conclude that the signal from secondary
craters in the isochrons must be relatively small, as our Monte Carlo model
only generates primary craters.
