Terby is a
crater
Crater may refer to:
Landforms
*Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet
*Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
on the northern edge of
Hellas Planitia
Hellas Planitia is a plain located within the huge, roughly circular impact basin Hellas located in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. Hellas is the third- or fourth-largest known impact crater in the Solar System. The basin floor is ...
,
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 ...
. It is in the
Iapygia quadrangle
The Iapygia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Iapygia quadrangle is also referred to as MC-21 (Mars Chart-21).
The Iapygia quadrang ...
. The crater is centered at 28°S, 73°E with an elevation of . It is named after
François J. Terby. It is the site of an ancient lakebed and has
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
deposits. Using data from Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions researchers believe Terby's layers were formed from sediments settling under water. Crater counts show this happened during the
Noachian period
The Noachian is a geologic system and early time period on the planet Mars characterized by high rates of meteorite and asteroid impacts and the possible presence of abundant surface water. The absolute age of the Noachian period is uncertain b ...
. It used to be thought that Terby Crater contained a large delta. However, newer observations have led researchers to think of the layered sequence as part of a group of layers that may have extended all the across Hellas. There is no valley large enough at the northern rim of Terby to have carried the large amount of sediments necessary to produce the layers. Other details in the layers argue against Terby's containing a delta. Fan deposits are some of the thickest on Mars. Hydrated minerals, including iron/magnesium phyllosilicates, have been detected in several layers.
[Ansan, V., D. Loizeau, M. Mangold, S., Le Mouélic, J. Carter, F. Poulet, G. Dromart, A. Lucas, J.-P. Bibring, A. Gendrin, B. Gondet, Y. Langevin, Ph. Massond, S. Murchie, J. Mustard, G. Neukum. 2011. "Stratigraphy, mineralogy, and origin of layered deposits inside Terby crater, Mars". ''Icarus'': 211, 273–304.]
Images
Wikisuzhimola.jpg, MOLA map showing Terby Crater and nearby craters. Colors indicate elevations.
Image:Iapygia map.JPG, Map of Iapygia quadrangle
The Iapygia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Iapygia quadrangle is also referred to as MC-21 (Mars Chart-21).
The Iapygia quadrang ...
with major craters.
Image:Terby crater dn12873-3 600.jpg, Terby crater - contains many rock layers.
Image:Terby crater .jpg, Layers in Terby crater may have formed when the Hellas basin was filled with water.
Image:Terby Crater.JPG, Terby Crater layers 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 ...
.
Wikiterby.jpg, Northern part of Terby Crater showing many layers, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, an ...
). Parts of this image are enlarged in next two images.
Wikiterbyclose.jpg, Northern part of Terby Crater showing many layers, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).
Wikiterbyclose2.jpg, Northern part of Terby Crater showing many layers, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).
See also
*
Climate of Mars
The climate of Mars has been a topic of scientific curiosity for centuries, in part because it is the only terrestrial planet whose surface can be directly observed in detail from the Earth with help from a telescope.
Although Mars is smaller t ...
*
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 ...
*
HiWish program HiWish is a program created by NASA so that anyone can suggest a place for the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to photograph. It was started in January 2010. In the first few months of the program 3000 people signed up to use HiRIS ...
*
Hydrothermal circulation
Hydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water (Ancient Greek ὕδωρ, ''water'',Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with th ...
*
Impact event
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 me ...
*
Lakes on Mars
In summer 1965, the first close-up images from Mars showed a cratered desert with no signs of water. However, over the decades, as more parts of the planet were imaged with better cameras on more sophisticated satellites, Mars showed evidence o ...
*
List of craters on Mars
__NOTOC__
This is a list of craters on Mars. Impact craters on Mars larger than exist by the hundreds of thousands, but only about one thousand of them have names. Names are assigned by the International Astronomical Union after petitioning by ...
*
Ore genesis
Various theories of ore genesis explain how the various types of mineral deposits form within Earth's crust. Ore-genesis theories vary depending on the mineral or commodity examined.
Ore-genesis theories generally involve three components: sour ...
*
Ore resources on Mars
Mars may contain ores that would be very useful to colonization of Mars, potential colonists. The abundance of volcanic features together with widespread cratering are strong evidence for a variety of ores. While nothing may be found on Mars that ...
*
Water on Mars
Almost all water on Mars today exists as ice, though it also exists in small quantities as vapor in the atmosphere. What was thought to be low-volume liquid brines in shallow Martian soil, also called recurrent slope lineae, may be grains of f ...
References
External links
Evidence for Lacustrine Deposition at the crater TerbyHiRISE observation of the crater Terby
{{Portal bar, Solar System
Iapygia quadrangle
Impact craters on Mars