Scarlatti (crater)

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Scarlatti
Scarlatti crater MESSENGER WAC IGF to RGB.jpg
Approximate color image by MESSENGER
Feature typePeak-ring impact basin
Location Shakespeare quadrangle, Mercury
Coordinates 40°42′N101°10′W / 40.7°N 101.16°W / 40.7; -101.16
Diameter132 km (82 mi) [1]
Eponym Domenico Scarlatti and Alessandro Scarlatti [1]
Mariner 10 image with Scarlatti and nearby Al-Hamadhani at center Mariner 10 image 0000142.png
Mariner 10 image with Scarlatti and nearby Al-Hamadhani at center

Scarlatti is a pit-floored crater on Mercury, which was discovered in 1974 by the Mariner 10 spacecraft. [2] It has a prominent peak ring, and it is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury. [3] The crater floor is covered by the smooth plains material.

The crater displays an arcuate collapse feature along the northeastern peak ring. The size of the pit, which was first noticed in MESSENGER images obtained in January 2008, is 38 × 12 km. [2] Such a feature may have resulted from collapse of a magma chamber underlying the central peak ring complex of the crater. The collapse feature is an analog of Earth's volcanic calderas. The irregular depression may also be evidence of explosive volcanism. [4]

Scarlatti is thought to have the same age as the Caloris basin. [2]

Hollows

A cluster of hollows are present along the southwestern peak ring.

References

  1. 1 2 "Scarlatti". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  2. 1 2 3 Gillis-Davis, Jeffrey J.; Blewett, David T.; Gaskell, Robert W.; Denevi, Brett W.; Robinson, Mark S.; Strom, Robert G.; Solomon, Sean C.; Sprague, Ann L. (2009). "Pit-floor craters on Mercury: Evidence of near-surface igneous activity". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 285 (3–4): 243–250. Bibcode:2009E&PSL.285..243G. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.05.023.
  3. ↑ 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.
  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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