Fluidized crater ejecta
The ejecta blanket of the crater in this image from NASA Mars Odyssey spacecraft does not resemble the blocky, discontinuous ejecta associated with most fresh craters on Mars. Rather, the continuous lobes of material seen around this crater are evidence that the crater ejecta were fluidized upon impact of the meteor that formed this crater. Impact ejecta become fluidized when a meteor strikes a surface that has a considerable volatile content. The volatiles mixed with the ejecta form a flow of material that moves outward from the crater and produces the morphology seen in this THEMIS visible image. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04025
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Keywords
Details
NASA ID
PIA04025
Date Created
December 13, 2002
Center
JPL
Media Type
image
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