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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms pp 1–4Cite as

Secondary-Crater Chain

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Definition

Secondary-crater chains are lines of regularly spaced rows of three or more secondary craters with similar sizes and apparently identical ages spread out up to tens of kilometers, formed from the ejecta of a single impact event owing to their radial alignment with respect to a nearby large crater.

Synonyms

Circumferential crater chain; Radial crater chain

Description

Craters in secondary chains can be roughly circular to irregular in shape, in many cases overlapping sequentially outward. Secondary chains are usually associated with other secondary craters (Secondary-Crater Field) in a broad zone concentric to the source crater and just beyond the continuous ejecta blanket.

Subtypes

(1) Radial or (rarely) (2) concentric to the parent crater

Formation

These crater chains are interpreted to form by the ejecta of large, basin-forming impacts, usually radial to their source basin, containing craters that overlap sequentially outward (McEwen and Bierhaus 2006*). Craters often...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, USA

    Trudi Hoogenboom Hagen

Authors
  1. Trudi Hoogenboom Hagen
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Correspondence to Trudi Hoogenboom Hagen .

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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). Secondary-Crater Chain. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_345-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_345-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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