Astronomy:Escalante (Martian crater)
Escalante Crater Wall, as seen by HiRISE. Picture on left is enlargement of the one on right. Scale bar is long. | |
Planet | Mars |
---|---|
Coordinates | [ ⚑ ] : 0°12′N 244°42′W / 0.2°N 244.7°W |
Escalante Crater is an impact crater in the Amenthes quadrangle of Mars. It is located at 0.2° N and 244.7° W. It is 79.3 km (49.3 mi) in diameter, and was named after Mexican astronomer (c. 1930) Francisco Javier Escalante Plancarte .[1]
CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) image of Escalante Crater. Dunes are visible near the bottom of the image.
Impact craters generally have a rim with ejecta around them, in contrast volcanic craters usually do not have a rim or ejecta deposits. As craters get larger (greater than 10 km in diameter) they usually have a central peak.[2] The peak is caused by a rebound of the crater floor following the impact.[3] If one measures the diameter of a crater, the original depth can be estimated with various ratios. Because of this relationship, researchers have found that many Martian craters contain a great deal of material; much of it is believed to be ice deposited when the climate was different.[4] Sometimes craters expose layers that were buried. Rocks from deep underground are tossed onto the surface. Hence, craters can show us what lies deep under the surface.
See also
- Climate of Mars
- Impact crater
- Impact event
- List of craters on Mars
- Ore resources on Mars
- Planetary nomenclature
References
- ↑ "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. 17 November 2010. https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/1841.
- ↑ "Stones, Wind, and Ice: A Guide to Martian Impact Craters". http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/stones/.
- ↑ Hugh H. Kieffer (1992). Mars. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1257-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=NoDvAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ↑ Garvin, J., et al. 2002. Global geometric properities of martian impact craters. Lunar Planet Sci. 33. Abstract @1255.
![]() | Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalante (Martian crater).
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