Alver (crater)

Alver
	MESSENGER image
Feature type	Peak-ring impact basin
Location	Bach quadrangle, Mercury
Coordinates	66°58′S77°15′E / 66.97°S 77.25°E
Diameter	151.49 km (94.13 mi)
Eponym	Betti Alver

Last updated August 01, 2025

Alver is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 151.49 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on March 15, 2013. Alver is named for the Estonian poet Betti Alver.^[1]

Alver is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.^[2] It lies in southern Utaridi Planitia.

On the western side of the peak ring is a dark spot of low reflectance material (LRM), closely associated with hollows.^[3] At least four irregular depressions are present in the vicinity of the northwestern peak ring. These depressions are evidence of explosive volcanism on the floor of the crater.^[4]

Exaggerated color image with Alver at bottom center
Detail of Alver crater

References

↑ "Alver". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. NASA . Retrieved 20 January 2020.
↑ Chapman, C. R., Baker, D. M. H., Barnouin, O. S., Fassett, C. I., Marchie, S., Merline, W. J., Ostrach, L. R., Prockter, L. M., and Strom, R. G., 2018. Impact Cratering of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 9.
↑ Xiao, Zhiyong; Strom, Robert G.; Blewett, David T.; Byrne, Paul K.; Solomon, Sean C.; Murchie, Scott L.; Sprague, Ann L.; Domingue, Deborah L.; Helbert, Jörn (September 2013). "Dark spots on Mercury: A distinctive low‐reflectance material and its relation to hollows". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 118 (9): 1752–1765. doi:10.1002/jgre.20115. ISSN 2169-9097.
↑ David Pegg, David Rothery, M.R. Balme, Susan Conway, 2021. Explosive vent sites on Mercury: Commonplace multiple eruptions and their implications. Icarus 365:114510. doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114510

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[1] "Alver". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. NASA . Retrieved 20 January 2020.

[2] Chapman, C. R., Baker, D. M. H., Barnouin, O. S., Fassett, C. I., Marchie, S., Merline, W. J., Ostrach, L. R., Prockter, L. M., and Strom, R. G., 2018. Impact Cratering of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 9.

[3] Xiao, Zhiyong; Strom, Robert G.; Blewett, David T.; Byrne, Paul K.; Solomon, Sean C.; Murchie, Scott L.; Sprague, Ann L.; Domingue, Deborah L.; Helbert, Jörn (September 2013). "Dark spots on Mercury: A distinctive low‐reflectance material and its relation to hollows". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 118 (9): 1752–1765. doi:10.1002/jgre.20115. ISSN 2169-9097.

[4] David Pegg, David Rothery, M.R. Balme, Susan Conway, 2021. Explosive vent sites on Mercury: Commonplace multiple eruptions and their implications. Icarus 365:114510. doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114510

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