Inter-crater plains on Mercury
Inter-crater plains on Mercury are a land-form consisting of plains between craters on Mercury.
Of the eight
Types of plains
There are two geologically distinct types of plains on Mercury - smooth plains of volcanic origin, and, inter-crater plains, of uncertain origin.[3]
Smooth plains
Smooth plains are widespread flat areas resembling the
Inter-crater plains
Inter-crater plains are the oldest visible surface on Mercury,[3] predating the heavily cratered terrain. They are gently rolling or hilly plains and occur in the regions between larger craters. The inter-crater plains appear to have covered up or destroyed many earlier craters, and show a general scarcity of smaller craters below about 30 km in diameter.[4] It is not clear whether they are of volcanic or impact origin.[4] The inter-crater plains are distributed roughly uniformly over the entire surface of the planet.
The most heavily cratered regions on Mercury contain large areas essentially free of impact craters with diameters greater than 50 kilometers. The surface areas of these regions can basically be divided into two categories: clusters of large craters and plains bordering these clusters of craters. This combination of surface features has been called "inter-crater plains" by the Mariner 10 Imaging Science Team.[5][6] These plains have sparked debate.[7]
Origin hypotheses
Unlike smooth plains, the origin of inter-crater plains has yet to be well determined. Research and studies have narrowed the origin of inter-crater plains on Mercury down to two hypotheses. The first hypotheses attributes formation from fluidized impact, ejecta,[8][9] which is the result of a meteorite impacting the surface so hard that it turns to liquid, then liquid debris is ejected into the air and lands, filling in any lower elevation areas or craters. The other hypothesis is that the plains formed from volcanic deposits originating from below the surface of Mercury itself.[10][11]
On the basis of the distribution of inter-crater plains and stratigraphic relationships between secondary craters and smooth plains it is argued that the majority of the inter-crater plains were emplaced volcanically.[12]
MESSENGER data
Information and data were gathered from Mariner 10
References
- ^ Wall, Mike (March 17, 2011). "NASA spacecraft now circling Mercury - a first". NBC News. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ^ Lakdawalla, Emily (July 3, 2008). "MESSENGER Scientists 'Astonished' to Find Water in Mercury's Thin Atmosphere". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
- ^ Bibcode:2001mses.conf..100S.)
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- ^ P. D. Spudis & J. E. Guest (1988). F.Vilas; C. Chapman & M. Matthews (eds.). Stratigraphy and Geologic History of Mercury (PDF). Tucson: University of Arizona Press. pp. 118–164. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
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