Curie (Martian crater)

Curie Crater

Curie Crater, as seen by HiRISE.
Planet Mars
Coordinates 29°06′N 4°48′W / 29.1°N 4.8°W / 29.1; -4.8Coordinates: 29°06′N 4°48′W / 29.1°N 4.8°W / 29.1; -4.8
Diameter 114.1 km
Eponym Pierre Curie, a French physicist-chemist (1859-1906)

Curie Crater is an impact crater in the Oxia Palus quadrangle of Mars, located at 29.1° N and 4.8° W. It is 114.1 km in diameter and was named after Pierre Curie, a French physicist-chemist (1859-1906).[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]

Why are Craters important?

The density of impact craters is used to determine the surface ages of Mars and other solar system bodies.[2] The older the surface, the more craters present. Crater shapes can reveal the presence of ground ice.

The presence of layers in this crater is evidence that it may once held a lake. Also, when the water disappeared, water may still have been in the ground. This water may have deposited minerals.

The area around craters, including Curie Crater, may be rich in minerals. On Mars, heat from the impact melts ice in the ground. Water from the melting ice dissolves minerals, and then deposits them in cracks or faults that were produced with the impact. This process, called hydrothermal alteration, is a major way in which ore deposits are produced. The area around Martian craters may be rich in useful ores for the future colonization of Mars.[4]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Curie (Martian crater).
  1. ↑ "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature | Curie". usgs.gov. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/stones/
  3. ↑ Hugh H. Kieffer (1992). Mars. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1257-7. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.indiana.edu/~sierra/papers/2003/Patterson.html.


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