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Rima, Rimae

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

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A descriptor term used in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Definition

Fissure (IAU Gazetteer 2014).

Previous Definitions

Rima, rille; Rimae, network or group of rilles (Andersson and Whitaker 1982, p. 9); Rille, narrow, elongate depression (sinuous, arcuate or straight) (Wilhelms 1987, p. 3.); Rifts (translated from French rainures) (Sadler 1962).

Origin of Term

Fissure, opening, Latin from lacrima: tear, Latin

Note

English equivalent is rille (as in German “groove”) and not rill (as in English “stream”).

History of Nomenclature

Introduced in Latin in 1961 (Sadler 1962). Names of lunar rimae are in reverse order (descriptor term is the first element).

See Also

Lava Channel

Rille

Sinuous rille

Linear Rille

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References

  • Andersson LE, Whitaker EA (1982) NASA catalogue of lunar nomenclature. NASA reference publication, Tucson

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  • IAU Gazetteer (2014) Gazetteer of planetary nomenclature. International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

  • Sadler DH (ed) (1962) Commission Pour L’etude Physique des Planetes et des Satellites. In: Proceedings of the eleventh general assembly (Berkeley, 1961). Transactions of the IAU, vol XIB. Academic Press, London

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  • Wilhelms DE (1987) The geologic history of the moon. USGS professional paper, vol 1348, p 11

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Science Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Henrik Hargitai

Authors
  1. Henrik Hargitai
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Correspondence to Henrik Hargitai .

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Hargitai, H. (2014). Rima, Rimae. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_315-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_315-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

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