Astronomy:Briault (crater)

Briault crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). mage:Kinkora Crater Rim. Some of these dunes are Barchans.

Dunes on the floor of Briault Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Some of these dunes are Barchans. Note: this is an enlargement of the previous image of Briault crater.

A topographic map showing Briault crater and other nearby craters.

Briault is an impact crater in the Mare Tyrrhenum quadrangle of Mars, located at 10.2°S latitude and 270.4°W longitude. It is 96.6 kilometers in diameter and was named after P. Briault, and the name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). The dark areas seen in the images are dunes; the curved dunes are called barchans.

See also

• Barchan
• Climate of Mars
• Geology of Mars
• Impact crater
• Impact event
• List of craters on Mars
• Ore resources on Mars
• Planetary nomenclature

Recommended reading

• Lorenz, R. 2014. The Dune Whisperers. The Planetary Report: 34, 1, 8-14
• Lorenz, R., J. Zimbelman. 2014. Dune Worlds: How Windblown Sand Shapes Planetary Landscapes. Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences.