Pedestal crater

In planetary geology, a pedestal crater is a crater with its ejecta sitting above the surrounding terrain and thereby forming a raised platform (like a pedestal). 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.[1][2] Some pedestals have been accurately measured to be hundreds of meters above the surrounding area. This means that hundreds of meters of material were eroded away. The result is that both the crater and its ejecta blanket stand above the surroundings. Pedestal craters were first observed during the Mariner missions.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ Kadish, S. J.; Head, J. W. (2011). "Impacts into non-polar ice-rich paleodeposits on Mars: Excess ejecta craters, perched craters and pedestal craters as clues to Amazonian climate history". Icarus. 215 (1): 34–46. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.07.014. ISSN 0019-1035.
  2. ^ Kadish, S. J.; Head, J. W. (2014). "The ages of pedestal craters on Mars: Evidence for a late-Amazonian extended period of episodic emplacement of decameters-thick mid-latitude ice deposits". Planetary and Space Science. 91: 91–100. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2013.12.003. ISSN 0032-0633.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pedestal-Crater-Development was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bleacher was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Themis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference McCauley-1973 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).