Grindavik (crater)
 Grindavik Crater, as seen by HiRISE. Scale bar is 1000 meters long. | |
| Planet | Mars |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 25°23′N 39°04′W / 25.39°N 39.07°WCoordinates: 25°23′N 39°04′W / 25.39°N 39.07°W |
| Diameter | 12 km |
| Eponym | a town in Iceland |
Grindavik is an impact crater in the Oxia Palus quadrangle of Mars, located at 25.39° North and 39.07° West. It is 12 km in diameter and was named after a town in Iceland.[1] 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]
Punsk Crater belongs to the class of craters called "Rampart craters" of the single-ejecta variety. Single-layered ejecta craters are one type of rampart carter. They have one ejecta lobe that extends 1 to 1.5 crater radii from the rim of the crater. They have an average diameter of 10 km. Although present at all latitudes, they are most common near the equator. There average size increases the more distant from the equator. It has been suggested that these types of craters are produced by impact into icy ground. Specifically, it is an impact that does not go entirely through the icy layer. The increase in size away from the equator is explained by a possible greater thickness in the icy layer away from the equator.[4]
Grindavik Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).
See also
References
- ↑ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/
- ↑ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/stones/
- ↑ Hugh H. Kieffer (1992). Mars. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1257-7. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ↑ Head, J., D. Weiss. 2017. Evidence for stabilization of the ice-cemented crysphere in earlier martian history: Implications for the current abundance of groundwater at depth on Mars. Icarus: 288, 120–147.