1 / 10

Investigating Central Pit Craters in the Northern Hemisphere of Mercury

Investigating Central Pit Craters in the Northern Hemisphere of Mercury. By: Curtis Dankof Mentor: Dr. Nadine Barlow Northern Arizona University. Central Pit Craters. A crater which contains a central depression Floor Pit - directly on the floor Summit Pit - on central rise/peak. Mars

faolan
Download Presentation

Investigating Central Pit Craters in the Northern Hemisphere of Mercury

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Investigating Central Pit Craters in the Northern Hemisphere of Mercury By: Curtis Dankof Mentor: Dr. Nadine Barlow Northern Arizona University

  2. Central Pit Craters • A crater which contains a central depression • Floor Pit- directly on the floor • Summit Pit- on central rise/peak

  3. Mars • Mercury Floor PitSummit Pit 10 km

  4. Formation • Impact-induced vaporization of subsurface volatiles • (Wood et al., 1978) • Excavation into weaker (possibly liquid) subsurface layers • (Croft, 1983) • Collapse of material weakened/brecciated during crater formation (Croft, 1981) • Collapse of central peak in weak targets • (Greeley et al., 1982) • Drainage of melt into sub-floor fractures • (Senftand Stewart, 2011; Bray et al., 2012; Elder et al., 2012) • Mercury is volatile-poor

  5. Volcanism/Gas Release • Collapse of magma chambers • Volcanic past • Release of gaseous material • Sulfur vaporizing on surface • Recent formations

  6. Project Objectives • Objective is to compare to outer bodies • Mars, Ganymede, Callisto • Similarities in formation? • New mechanism altogether?

  7. Geographical Distribution • Prevalence • Geographical region • Elevation • Latitude/Longitude • Geologic Unit • Insight into composition of Mercury

  8. JMARS Program • Utilized the JMARS Program • 3-point routine

  9. Data • Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) from MESSENGER • Crater diameter > 5km

  10. Acknowledgements • Thank you to: • Dr. Nadine Barlow • Kathleen Stigmon • NAU/NASA Space Grant • ASU for JMARS • MESSENGER Team • Arizona Space Grant Consortium

More Related