Characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in Mercury's north polar region
Earth-based radar images of Mercury show radar-bright material inside impact craters near the planet's poles. A previous study indicated that the polar-deposit-hosting craters (PDCs) at Mercury's north pole are shallower than craters that lack such deposits. We use data acquired by the Mer...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |
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ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/85653 2023-06-11T04:15:11+02:00 Characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in Mercury's north polar region Talpe, Matthieu J. Yang, Di Neumann, Gregory A. Solomon, Sean C. Vilas, Faith Zuber, Maria Mazarico, Erwan Matias Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Talpe, Matthieu J. Zuber, Maria Yang, Di Mazarico, Erwan Matias 2012-09 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85653 en_US eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2012je004155 Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 2169-9100 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85653 Talpe, Matthieu J., Maria T. Zuber, Di Yang, Gregory A. Neumann, Sean C. Solomon, Erwan Mazarico, and Faith Vilas. “Characterization of the Morphometry of Impact Craters Hosting Polar Deposits in Mercury’s North Polar Region.” J. Geophys. Res. 117, no. E12 (December 2012): n/a–n/a. Copyright © 2012 by the American Geophysical Union orcid:0000-0003-2652-8017 Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. MIT web domain Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2012 ftmit https://doi.org/10.1029/2012je004155 2023-05-29T08:16:47Z Earth-based radar images of Mercury show radar-bright material inside impact craters near the planet's poles. A previous study indicated that the polar-deposit-hosting craters (PDCs) at Mercury's north pole are shallower than craters that lack such deposits. We use data acquired by the Mercury Laser Altimeter on the MESSENGER spacecraft during 11 months of orbital observations to revisit the depths of craters at high northern latitudes on Mercury. We measured the depth and diameter of 537 craters located poleward of 45°N, evaluated the slopes of the northern and southern walls of 30 PDCs, and assessed the floor roughness of 94 craters, including nine PDCs. We find that the PDCs appear to have a fresher crater morphology than the non-PDCs and that the radar-bright material has no detectable influence on crater depths, wall slopes, or floor roughness. The statistical similarity of crater depth-diameter relations for the PDC and non-PDC populations places an upper limit on the thickness of the radar-bright material (<170 m for a crater 11 km in diameter) that can be refined by future detailed analysis. Results of the current study are consistent with the view that the radar-bright material constitutes a relatively thin layer emplaced preferentially in comparatively young craters. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Pole DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) North Pole Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 117 E12 n/a n/a |
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Open Polar |
collection |
DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftmit |
language |
English |
description |
Earth-based radar images of Mercury show radar-bright material inside impact craters near the planet's poles. A previous study indicated that the polar-deposit-hosting craters (PDCs) at Mercury's north pole are shallower than craters that lack such deposits. We use data acquired by the Mercury Laser Altimeter on the MESSENGER spacecraft during 11 months of orbital observations to revisit the depths of craters at high northern latitudes on Mercury. We measured the depth and diameter of 537 craters located poleward of 45°N, evaluated the slopes of the northern and southern walls of 30 PDCs, and assessed the floor roughness of 94 craters, including nine PDCs. We find that the PDCs appear to have a fresher crater morphology than the non-PDCs and that the radar-bright material has no detectable influence on crater depths, wall slopes, or floor roughness. The statistical similarity of crater depth-diameter relations for the PDC and non-PDC populations places an upper limit on the thickness of the radar-bright material (<170 m for a crater 11 km in diameter) that can be refined by future detailed analysis. Results of the current study are consistent with the view that the radar-bright material constitutes a relatively thin layer emplaced preferentially in comparatively young craters. |
author2 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Talpe, Matthieu J. Zuber, Maria Yang, Di Mazarico, Erwan Matias |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Talpe, Matthieu J. Yang, Di Neumann, Gregory A. Solomon, Sean C. Vilas, Faith Zuber, Maria Mazarico, Erwan Matias |
spellingShingle |
Talpe, Matthieu J. Yang, Di Neumann, Gregory A. Solomon, Sean C. Vilas, Faith Zuber, Maria Mazarico, Erwan Matias Characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in Mercury's north polar region |
author_facet |
Talpe, Matthieu J. Yang, Di Neumann, Gregory A. Solomon, Sean C. Vilas, Faith Zuber, Maria Mazarico, Erwan Matias |
author_sort |
Talpe, Matthieu J. |
title |
Characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in Mercury's north polar region |
title_short |
Characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in Mercury's north polar region |
title_full |
Characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in Mercury's north polar region |
title_fullStr |
Characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in Mercury's north polar region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in Mercury's north polar region |
title_sort |
characterization of the morphometry of impact craters hosting polar deposits in mercury's north polar region |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85653 |
geographic |
North Pole |
geographic_facet |
North Pole |
genre |
North Pole |
genre_facet |
North Pole |
op_source |
MIT web domain |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2012je004155 Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 2169-9100 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85653 Talpe, Matthieu J., Maria T. Zuber, Di Yang, Gregory A. Neumann, Sean C. Solomon, Erwan Mazarico, and Faith Vilas. “Characterization of the Morphometry of Impact Craters Hosting Polar Deposits in Mercury’s North Polar Region.” J. Geophys. Res. 117, no. E12 (December 2012): n/a–n/a. Copyright © 2012 by the American Geophysical Union orcid:0000-0003-2652-8017 |
op_rights |
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2012je004155 |
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Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |
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117 |
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E12 |
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1768371805219717120 |