Multi-ringed basin explained

A multi-ringed basin (also a multi-ring impact basin) is not a simple bowl-shaped crater, or a peak ring crater, but one containing multiple concentric topographic rings;^[1] a multi-ringed basin could be described as a massive impact crater, surrounded by circular chains of mountains^[2] resembling rings on a bull's-eye. A multi-ringed basin may have an area of many thousands of square kilometres.^[3]

An impact crater of diameter bigger than about 180miles is referred to as a basin.^[4]

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Structure

In adjacent rings, the ratio of the diameters approximates :1 ≈ 1.41 to 1.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Formation

To start, a peak ring crater has

• one peak-ring, i.e., a crater rim, which is generally circular, and
• a mountainous region which surrounds the basin center.

A multi-ringed basin has an important difference, which is multiple peak-rings.

In extremely large collisions, following the impact the rebound of the surface can obliterate any trace of the initial impact point. Usually, a peak ring crater has a high structure with a terrace and has slump structures inside of it. In 2016, research brought forward new theories about the formation of the lunar mare called Mare Orientale on Earth's Moon.^[8]

Multi-ring basins are some of the largest, oldest, rarest and least understood of impact craters. There are various theories to explain the formation of multi-ringed basins, however there is currently no consensus.^{[9] [10]}

Examples

• Mare Orientale on Earth's Moon is a multi-ringed basin created by an impactor perhaps 40order=flipNaNorder=flip in diameter traveling at 9mi/s, or about 32400mph^[11]
• Anubis on Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter
• Valhalla on Callisto, a moon of Jupiter
• Evander on Dione, a moon of Saturn
• Caloris Basin, surrounded by Caloris Montes, on Mercury
• Burney on Pluto, a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt

Chicxulub crater in Mexico has a sufficient area to have been a multi-ringed basin,^[12]

See also

• • • • • • • • • book from Lunar and Planetary Institute - comprehensive reference on impact crater science

Notes and References

1. Head . J. W. . Transition from complex craters to multi-ringed basins on terrestrial planetary bodies: Scale-dependent role of the expanding melt cavity and progressive interaction with the displaced zone . Geophysical Research Letters . January 2010 . 37 . 2 . 10.1029/2009GL041790 . 2010GeoRL..37.2203H .
2. Web site: Lunar Landforms Teacher Page . Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i . 1998 . 18 January 2019 . 12 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180212070459/http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/LunarLandformsTe.html . dead .
3. Encyclopedia: https://www.britannica.com/science/multiringed-basin . Multiringed basin . Encyclopedia Britannica . February 1, 2018 . January 20, 2019.
4. Web site: How Multi-Ring Craters Form Revealed by New Research . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20170701232331/https://www.ineffableisland.com/2016/10/how-multi-ring-craters-form-revealed-by.html . 1 July 2017 . Ideas, Inventions And Innovations. October 29, 2016 .
5. Encyclopedia: Multi-Ring Basin . Encyclopedia.com . January 20, 2019.
6. Moons & Planets, William K. Hartmann, 2005, p.255ff
7. Martellato . Elena . The importance of being a crater: A tool in planetary surface analysis and datation . Università degli Studi di Padova . PhD Thesis . January 31, 2011 . January 20, 2019.
8. Web site: Research helps explain formation of ringed crater on the Moon . News from Brown . October 27, 2016 . 20 January 2019 . Stacey, Kevin.
9. Potter . Ross W.K. . Investigating the onset of multi-ring impact basin formation . Icarus . November 2015 . 261 . 91–99 . 10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.009 . 2015Icar..261...91P .
10. Book: Stuart Ross Taylor . 1982 . https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/planetary_science/chapter3.pdf . Meteorite impacts, craters and multi-ring basins . Planetary Science: A Lunar Perspective . Lunar and Planetary Institute . 19 January 2019.
11. Web site: Retracing the origins of a massive, multi-ring crater . MIT News . October 27, 2016 . 20 January 2019 . Chu . Jennifer.
12. Book: W. B. . McKinnon . J. S. . Alexopoulos . Some implications of large impact craters and basins on Venus for terrestrial ringed craters and planetary evolution . KT Event and Other Catastrophes . January 1994 . 2060/19940023803.