Early spacecraft missions to Mars revealed that impact craters display a range of degradational states, but full appreciation of the range of preservational characteristics was not revealed until the Mariner 9 and Viking missions in the 1970's. Many studies have described the spatial and temporal distribution of obliteration episodes based on qualitative descriptions of crater degradation. Recent advances in photoclinometric techniques have led to improved estimates of crater morphometric characteristics. The present study is using photoclinometry to determine crater profiles and is comparing these results with the crater geometry expected for pristine craters of identical size. The result is an estimate of the degree of degradation suffered by Martian impact craters in selected regions of the planet. Size-frequency distribution analyses of craters displaying similar degrees of degradation within localized regions of the planet may provide information about the timing of obliteration episodes in these regions.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Martian impact crater degradation studies: Implications for localized obliteration episodes


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    1992-01-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English






    Impact Crater Morphology on Martian Volcanoes

    Cave, J. / Guest, J. / Moore, B. J. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1994


    Impact Crater Morphology on Martian Volcanoes

    Cave, J. / Guest, J. / Moore, B. J. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1994