Gibran (crater)

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Gibran
Gibran pit crater arrow.jpg
Arrow indicates pit crater within Gibran
PlanetMercury
Coordinates35°30′N 110°24′W / 35.5°N 110.4°W / 35.5; -110.4Coordinates: 35°30′N 110°24′W / 35.5°N 110.4°W / 35.5; -110.4
QuadrangleShakespeare
Diameter102.0 km[1]
EponymKhalil Gibran[2]
Approximate color image by MESSENGER

Gibran is a crater on Mercury and is in the east of the Shakespeare quadrangle. It was named after Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran in 2009.[2] It has a diameter of 102 km. Gibran is located east of the rayed crater of Degas and nearby Damer.

The crater was discovered in January 2008 during the first flyby of the planet by the MESSENGER spacecraft. It contains a large (29 × 29 km), nearly circular pit crater.[1] Multiple examples of pit craters have been observed on Mercury on the floors of impact craters, leading to the name pit-floor craters for the impact structures that host these features. Unlike impact craters, pit craters are rimless, often irregularly shaped, steep-sided, and often display no associated ejecta or lava flows.[1] These pit craters are thought to be evidence of shallow volcanic activity and may have formed when retreating magma caused an unsupported area of the surface to collapse, creating a pit. They are analogs of Earth's volcanic calderas.[1] Pit-floor craters may provide an indication of internal igneous processes where other evidence of volcanic processes is absent or ambiguous. The discovery of multiple pit-floor craters augments evidence that volcanic activity has been a widespread process in the geologic evolution of Mercury's crust.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Gillis-Davis, Jeffrey J.; Blewett, David T.; Gaskell, Robert W.; Denevi, Brett W.; Robinson, Mark S.; Strom, Robert G.; Solomon, Sean C.; Sprague, Ann L. (2009). "Pit-floor craters on Mercury: Evidence of near-surface igneous activity". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 285 (3–4): 243–250. Bibcode:2009E&PSL.285..243G. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.05.023. See unnamed feature 2.
  2. ^ a b "Gibran (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  3. ^ "Picture of a Pit-Floor Crater". JHU/APL. July 21, 2009. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2009.


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