Geological Chronicle
Located on the far side of the Moon south of the walled plain Hertzsprung, the impact crater Ioffe measures 83.95 kilometers across. The formation is attached directly to the southwestern outer rim of Fridman, with a short stretch of terrain separating its southeastern margin from neighboring Belopol'skiy.
Dating to the Late Imbrian period on the lunar geologic timescale, Ioffe is a relatively youthful crater with a well-defined outer rim and a terraced inner wall. Subsequent impacts have marked the perimeter, including a smaller crater along the edge joined to Fridman and a small craterlet along the northwestern rim.
The interior floor is relatively level and free of notable impacts, interrupted only by a low, uneven ridge extending from just east of the midpoint to the south-southwestern inner wall. Infrared spectroscopy identified the signature of pure crystalline plagioclase on this central ridge. The crater is named after Soviet physicist Abram Ioffe.