Geology and Geomorphology of Tooting Crater, Mars, from HiRISE- and CTX-Derived Digital Elevation Models

Details Geology and Geomorphology of Tooting Crater, Mars, from HiRISE- and CTX-Derived Digital Elevation Models Geology and Geomorphology of Tooting Crater, Mars, from HiRISE- and CTX-Derived Digital Elevation Models

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufm.p41f..05m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #P41F-05

Physics

[5420] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Impact Phenomena, Cratering, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars

Scientific paper

We use digital elevation models, derived from stereo High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Context Camera (CTX) images referenced to Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) measurements, to investigate the geology and geomorphology of the 27.2 km diameter Tooting crater, Mars. This is almost certainly the best preserved, youngest, impact crater of its size on the planet and therefore provides fundamental information on the pristine geometry of impact craters on Mars. The crater formed in an area ~185 × 135 km in size that is at an elevation between -3,870 m and -3,874 m relative to the MOLA datum. This fortuitous situation (i.e., bland, horizontal target) means that the geometry of the crater and the thickness of the ejecta blanket can be accurately determined by subtracting the mean elevation of the surrounding landscape (-3,872 m) from the individual MOLA measurements across the crater. The topographic data have significantly helped in the interpretation of the geology of the crater and the lobate ejecta layers that form the ejecta blanket, which we have mapped at a scale of 1:200,000. Our analysis shows that the ~9.5 km wide central peak is ~1,100 m high, the maximum depth of the crater floor is 1,274 m below the highest part of the rim, and the crater rim crest has ~600 m of variability around its perimeter. There is an elevation difference of almost 200 m between the northern and southern parts of the crater floor. Pits within floor materials are typically <50 m diameter and <10 m deep. Layering within the cavity walls indicates that ~260 m of structural uplift of the pre-impact target material took place during crater excavation, which constitutes ~35% of the total relief of the rim crest. Thickness measurements of the ejecta layers reveal that the continuous ejecta blanket is remarkably thin (~3 - 5 m) in some places, but that the distal ramparts may be ~60 m high. The outer slope of the rampart is quite steep (~25 deg.), and the inner slope is much shallower (~5 deg.). These geometric measurements of Tooting crater can be used in the interpretation of the geometry of older large impact craters on Mars, as well as investigate numerous aspects of the impact cratering process.

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