multiringed basin

multiringed basin

      any of a class of geologic features that have been observed on various planets and satellites in the solar system. A multiringed basin typically resembles a bull's-eye and may cover an area of many thousands of square kilometres. The outer rings of the basins are clifflike scarps that face inward. Because of the gradation of smaller examples into ordinary craters and because of the apparent ejecta-blanket patterns of radially striated terrain surrounding them, multiringed basins are believed to be giant impact features. The rings probably were formed as part of the crater-forming process during impact, although some hypotheses suggest that they were formed, or were enhanced, by post-impact collapse. Transitional structures between bowl-shaped craters and multiringed basins include craters with central peaks and larger craters with central rings of peaks. Partly owing to the unfortunate placement, relative to the Moon's visible face, of the most prominent lunar examples, multiringed basins were only slowly recognized as coherent geologic features by geologists and astronomers.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • mercury — /merr kyeuh ree/, n., pl. mercuries. 1. Chem. a heavy, silver white, highly toxic metallic element, the only one that is liquid at room temperature; quicksilver: used in barometers, thermometers, pesticides, pharmaceutical preparations,… …   Universalium

  • Kuiper quadrangle — The Kuiper quadrangle, located in a heavily cratered region of Mercury, includes the young, 55 km diameter crater Kuiper (11° S., 31.5° ), which has the highest albedo recorded on the planet (Hapke and others, 1975), and the small crater Hun Kal… …   Wikipedia

  • Beethoven quadrangle — The Beethoven quadrangle is located in the equatorial region of Mercury, in the center of the area imaged by Mariner 10. Most pictures of the quadrangle were obtained at high sun angles as the Mariner 10 spacecraft receded from the planet.… …   Wikipedia

  • Callisto — /keuh lis toh/, n. 1. Also, Kallisto. Class. Myth. a nymph attendant on Artemis, punished for a love affair with Zeus by being changed into a bear and then transformed into stars as the constellation Ursa Major. 2. Astron. a large natural… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”