Definition
Row of circular depressions.
Subtypes by Formation
- (1)
Secondary Crater Chains: The ejecta of large, basin-forming impacts usually radial to their source basin, containing craters that overlap sequentially outward (McEwen and Bierhaus 2006 and references therein). Secondary crater chains are distinguished from endogenic features (pit crater chains) by the well-defined rims on the regular and circular craters and the presence of chains in nonvolcanic regions (Wichman and Wood 1995; McKinnon and Schenk 1995).
- (2)
Crater Chain (Impact, Primary): Impacts of fragments of a tidally disrupted body, when an asteroid or comet with low tensile strength is pulled apart by tides during a close approach to a planet, separating into a train of fragments.
- (3)
Pit Crater Chain, Pit Chain (endogenic): Surficial collapse into subterranean cavities generally observed in regions that have experienced crustal extension.
Examples of Crater Chains of Uncertain Origin
Moon: The Davy crater chain...
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References
Bottke JF Jr, Richardson DC, Love SG (1997) Can tidal disruption of asteroids make crater chains on the Earth and Moon? Icarus 126:470–474
McEwen AS, Bierhaus EB (2006) The importance of secondary cratering to age constraints on planetary surfaces. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 34:535–567
McGhee GR (1996) The late Devonian mass extinction. Columbia University Press, New York
McKinnon WB, Schenk PM (1995) Estimates of comet fragment masses from impact crater chains on Callisto and Ganymede. Geophys Res Lett 22(13):1829–1832
Oberbeck VR, Greeley R (1975) Preliminary analysis of the topography of a segment of Davy Catena. Lunar Planet Sci 6:613, Houston
Oberbeck VR, Morrison RH (1973) On the formation of lunar herringbone pattern. Lunar Planet Sci IV:107–123, Houston
Schenk PM, Asphaug E, McKinnon WB, Melosh HJ, Weissman PR (1996) Cometary nuclei and tidal disruption: the geologic record of crater chains on Callisto and Ganymede. Icarus 121:249–274
Shoemaker EM (1962) Interpretation of lunar craters. In: Kopal Z (ed) Physics and astronomy of the moon. Academic, New York, pp 283–359
Spray JG, Kelley SP, Rowley DB (1998) Evidence for a late Triassic multiple impact event on Earth. Nature 392:171–173
Wichman RW, Wood CA (1995) The Davy Crater chain: implications for tidal disruption in the Earth-Moon system and elsewhere. Geophys Res Lett 22(5):583–586. doi:10.1029/94GL02966
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© 2014 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Australia, as represented by Trudi Hoogenboom
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Hagen, T.H. (2014). Crater Chain (Type). In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_104-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_104-2
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