Tikhonravov is a large, eroded
crater in the
Arabia quadrangle
The Arabia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Arabia quadrangle is also referred to as MC-12 (Mars Chart-12).
The quadrangle contai ...
of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
. It is in diameter and was named after
Mikhail Tikhonravov
Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov (July 29, 1900 – March 3, 1974) was a Soviet engineer who was a pioneer of spacecraft design and rocketry.
Mikhail Tikhonravov was born in Vladimir, Russia. He attended the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy from 1922 ...
, a Russian rocket scientist. Tikhonravov is believed to have once held a giant lake that drained into the
Naktong-
Scamander
Scamander (; also Skamandros ( grc, Σκάμανδρος) or Xanthos () was a river god in Greek mythology.
Etymology
The meaning of this name is uncertain. The second element looks like it is derived from Greek () meaning 'of a man', but t ...
-
Mamers
Mamers () is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France. The neighboring communes are: Commerveil, Saint-Longis, Saint-Rémy-des-Monts, Origny-le-Roux, Suré. Mamers is twinned with the town Ma ...
lake-chain system. An inflow and outflow channel has been identified. Many craters once contained lakes.
Pedestal craters
Some craters in Tikhonravov are classified as
pedestal craters. A pedestal crater is a crater with its ejecta sitting above the surrounding terrain. They form when an impact crater ejects material which forms an erosion resistant layer, thus causing the immediate area to erode more slowly than the rest of the region. The result is that both the crater and its ejecta blanket stand above the surroundings.
Arabia quadrangle
The Arabia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Arabia quadrangle is also referred to as MC-12 (Mars Chart-12).
The quadrangle contai ...
with major craters.
Image:Tikonravev Crater Floor.JPG, Tikhonravov crater floor, 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 t ...
. Click on image to see dark slope streaks
Dark slope streaks are narrow, avalanche-like features common on dust-covered slopes in the equatorial regions of Mars.Chuang, F.C.; Beyer, R.A.; Bridges, N.T. (2010). Modification of Martian Slope Streaks by Eolian Processes. ''Icarus,'' 205 154 ...
and layers.
Image:Tikhonravov Basin Streaks.JPG, Streaks on side of pedestal crater in Tikhonravov, 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 ...
. Scale bar is 500 meters long. Click on image to see close-up of the crater edge.
Image:Layers in a crater in Arabia.JPG, Close-up of layers in Tikhonravov in Arabia, as seen by Mars Global Surveyor, under the MOC Public Targeting Program
The MOC Public Targeting Program was a very popular program that followed the Mars Global Surveyor's pictures of Mars. A total of 4,636 requests came in from the general public. Of these, 1,086 were photographed by the Mars Observer Camera. Many ...
. Layers may form from volcanoes
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
, the wind, or by deposition under water. The craters on the left are pedestal craters.
ESP 045455 1930layers.jpg, Layers under cap rock of a pedestal crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Pedestal crater is within the much larger Tikhonravov Crater.
Image:ESP 025609layers.jpg, Layers under cap rock of a pedestal crater, as seen by HiRISE under 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 ...
. Pedestal crater is within the much larger Tikhonravov.
Image:25609layersclose.jpg, Close-up of some layers under cap rock of a pedestal crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program.
Image:25609layersstreak.jpg, Close-up of some layers under cap rock of a pedestal crater and a dark slope streak, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program.
See also
*
List of craters on Mars
References
Arabia quadrangle
Impact craters on Mars
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