Skip to main content

Secondary Crater Cluster

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
  • 28 Accesses

Definition

Isolated groups of small craters, generally consisting of 10 or more craters from 10 m to a few km diameter (Figs. 1, 2). They often overlap, are presumed to have formed simultaneously, and are interpreted as craters formed by the impact of ejecta from a large impact.

Secondary Crater Cluster, Fig. 1
figure 1938 figure 1938

Secondary crater cluster near Ma’adim Vallis (D = ~10 km, 20°S, 178°E). Scale bar 2 km. CTX: B05_011732_1597_XI_20S181W (NASA/JPL/MSSS)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   1,299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Hawke BR et al (2006) The comparison and origin of Copernicus rays: implications for the Copernican-Eratosthenian boundary. In: Abstracts of the annual meeting of planetary geologic mappers, Nampa, Idaho. USGS

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar PS, Kumar AS, Keerthi V, Goswami JN, Krishna BG, Kumar ASK (2011) Chandrayaan-1 observation of distant secondary craters of Copernicus exhibiting central mound morphology: evidence for low velocity clustered impacts on the Moon. Planet Space Sci 59(9):870–879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masursky H, Colton GW, El-Baz F (1978) Apollo over the moon: a view from orbit. scientific and technical information office NASA, Washington. NASA SP-362

    Google Scholar 

  • McEwen AS, Preblich BS, Turtle EP, Artemieva NA, Golombek MP, Hurst M, Kirk RL, Burr DM, Christensen PR (2005) The rayed crater Zunil and interpretations of small impact craters on Mars. Icarus 176:351–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberbeck VR, Morrison RH (1973) On the formation of the lunar herringbone pattern. Lunar Planet Sci Conf Proc 4:107

    Google Scholar 

  • Pike RJ, Wilhelms DE (1978) Secondary-impact craters on the Moon: topographic form and geologic process. Lunar Planet Sci IX:907–909, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Popova OP, Hartmann WK, Nemtchinov IV, Richardson DC, Berman DC (2007) Crater clusters on Mars: shedding light on Martian ejecta launch conditions. Icarus 190(1):50–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tornabene LL, Moersch JE, McSween HY Jr, McEwen AS, Piatek JL, Milam KA, Christensen PR (2006) Identification of large (2–10 km) rayed craters on Mars in THEMIS thermal infrared images: implications for possible Martian meteorite source regions. J Geophys Res 111, E10006. doi:10.1029/2005JE002600

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ingrid Daubar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Daubar, I. (2015). Secondary Crater Cluster. In: Hargitai, H., Kereszturi, Á. (eds) Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3_330

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics