Lomonosov is a crater on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

, with a diameter close to 150 km. It is located in the Martian northern plains. Since it is large and found close (64.9° north) to the boundary between the

Mare Acidalium quadrangle The Mare Acidalium quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The quadrangle is located in the northeastern portion of Mars’ western hemisphere ...

and the

Mare Boreum quadrangle The Mare Boreum quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Mare Boreum quadrangle is also referred to as MC-1 (Mars Chart-1). Its name deriv ...

, it is found on both maps. The topography is smooth and young in this area, hence Lomonosov is easy to spot on large maps of Mars. The crater was named in 1973 in honour of

Mikhail V. Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; russian: Михаил (Михайло) Васильевич Ломоносов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ , a=Ru-Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.ogg; – ) was a Russian polymath, scientist and wr ...

. The impact that created the crater has been identified as a possible source of

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

waves which washed the shores of an ancient ocean formerly present in the basin

Vastitas Borealis (Latin 'northern waste') is the largest lowland region of Mars. It is in the northerly latitudes of the planet and encircles the northern polar region. Vastitas Borealis is often simply referred to as the northern plains, northern lowlands or ...

.Costard, F., et al. 2018. Formation of the Northern Plains Lomonosov Crater During a Tsunami Generating Marine Impact Event. 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2018 (LPI Contrib. No. 2083). 1928.pdf In July 2019, further support was reported for an ancient ocean on Mars that may have been formed by a possible mega-tsunami source resulting from a

meteorite impact An impact event is a collision between astronomical objects causing measurable effects. Impact events have physical consequences and have been found to regularly occur in planetary systems, though the most frequent involve asteroids, comets or m ...

creating Lomonosov crater.

Gallery

File:Lomonosov crater f259s57 f259s59.jpg, Mosaic of Viking Oribiter 1 images, with Lomonosov at top and looking south. File:Lomonosov Crater.JPG, Polygonial patterned ground in the interior of Lomonosov, as seen by

Mars Global Surveyor ''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through the a ...

. File:ESP 028537 2270tsunamischannels.jpg, Channels made by the backwash from tsunamis, as seen by

HiRISE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction o ...

. Tsunamis were probably caused by asteroids striking the ocean.

Interactive Mars map

References

External links

crater Google Mars linked to the crater Lomonosov

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-226, 27 April 2000
Impact craters on Mars Mare Acidalium quadrangle Mare Boreum quadrangle {{crater-stub

Gallery

Interactive Mars map

See also

References

External links