A multi-ringed basin (also a multi-ring impact basin) is not a simple bowl-shaped crater, or a peak ring crater, but one containing multiple concentric topographic rings;[1] a multi-ringed basin could be described as a massive impact crater, surrounded by circular chains of mountains[2] resembling rings on a bull's-eye. A multi-ringed basin may have an area of many thousands of square kilometres.[3]
An impact crater of diameter bigger than about 180 miles (290 km) is referred to as a basin.[4]
Structure
editIn adjacent rings, the ratio of the diameters approximates √2:1 ≈ 1.41 to 1.[5][6][7]
Formation
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To start, a peak ring crater has
- one peak-ring, i.e., a crater rim, which is generally circular, and
- a mountainous region which surrounds the basin center.
A multi-ringed basin has an important difference, which is multiple peak-rings.
In extremely large collisions, following the impact the rebound of the surface can obliterate any trace of the initial impact point. Usually, a peak ring crater has a high structure with a terrace and has slump structures inside of it. In 2016, research brought forward new theories about the formation of the lunar mare called Mare Orientale on Earth's Moon.[8]
Multi-ring basins are some of the largest, oldest, rarest and least understood of impact craters. There are various theories to explain the formation of multi-ringed basins, however there is currently no consensus.[9][10]
Examples
edit- Mare Orientale on Earth's Moon is a multi-ringed basin created by an impactor perhaps 60 kilometres (40 mi) in diameter traveling at 14 kilometres per second (9 mi/s), or about 52,100 kilometres per hour (32,400 mph)[11]
- Anubis on Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter
- Valhalla on Callisto, a moon of Jupiter
- Evander on Dione, a moon of Saturn
- Caloris Basin, surrounded by Caloris Montes, on Mercury
- Burney on Pluto, a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt
Chicxulub crater in Mexico has a sufficient area to have been a multi-ringed basin,[12]
See also
edit- Central-peak crater – Large impact craters with uplifted centres
- Complex crater – Large impact craters with uplifted centres
- Impact crater – Circular depression in a solid astronomical body formed by the impact of a smaller object
- Impact event – Collision of two astronomical objects
- Impact structure – Geologic structure formed from impact on a planetary surface
- Peak ring (crater) – Roughly circular ring or plateau, possibly discontinuous, surrounding an impact crater's center
- Pedestal crater – type of impact crater
- Expanded crater – Type of secondary impact crater
- Traces of Catastrophe – Comprehensive technical reference on the science of impact craters book from Lunar and Planetary Institute - comprehensive reference on impact crater science
References
edit- ^ Head, J. W. (January 2010). "Transition from complex craters to multi-ringed basins on terrestrial planetary bodies: Scale-dependent role of the expanding melt cavity and progressive interaction with the displaced zone". Geophysical Research Letters. 37 (2). Bibcode:2010GeoRL..37.2203H. doi:10.1029/2009GL041790.
- ^ "Lunar Landforms Teacher Page". Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i. 1998. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ "Multiringed basin". Encyclopedia Britannica. February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ "How Multi-Ring Craters Form Revealed by New Research". Ideas, Inventions And Innovations. October 29, 2016. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)[self-published source?] - ^ "Multi-Ring Basin". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ Moons & Planets, William K. Hartmann, 2005, p.255ff
- ^ Martellato, Elena (January 31, 2011). The importance of being a crater: A tool in planetary surface analysis and datation (PDF) (PhD Thesis). Università degli Studi di Padova. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ Stacey, Kevin (October 27, 2016). "Research helps explain formation of ringed crater on the Moon". News from Brown. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ Potter, Ross W.K. (November 2015). "Investigating the onset of multi-ring impact basin formation". Icarus. 261: 91–99. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...91P. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.009.
- ^ Stuart Ross Taylor (1982). "Meteorite impacts, craters and multi-ring basins" (PDF). Planetary Science: A Lunar Perspective. Lunar and Planetary Institute. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ^ Chu, Jennifer (October 27, 2016). "Retracing the origins of a massive, multi-ring crater". MIT News. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ McKinnon, W. B.; Alexopoulos, J. S. (January 1994). "Some implications of large impact craters and basins on Venus for terrestrial ringed craters and planetary evolution". KT Event and Other Catastrophes. hdl:2060/19940023803.