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Lacus

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 273 Accesses

Synonyms

Lake

Definition

The term lacus (lake) refers to a number of small low-albedo plains on the Moon and Titan and also to one on Mars. Lacus features usually exhibit a well-pronounced and sharp boundary and have a size of 100–200 km in diameter. While on the Moon lacūs are associated with Mare features and caused by basaltic flood volcanism, lacūs on Titan refer to small dark areas possibly associated with liquid hydrocarbons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensing, Institute of Geological Sciences, Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Stephan van Gasselt

Authors
  1. Stephan van Gasselt
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Correspondence to Stephan van Gasselt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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van Gasselt, S. (2014). Lacus. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_857-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_857-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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