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Evolution of the Rembrandt impact basin on Mercury.

Authors :
Watters TR
Head JW
Solomon SC
Robinson MS
Chapman CR
Denevi BW
Fassett CI
Murchie SL
Strom RG
Source :
Science (New York, N.Y.) [Science] 2009 May 01; Vol. 324 (5927), pp. 618-21.
Publication Year :
2009

Abstract

MESSENGER's second Mercury flyby revealed a ~715-kilometer-diameter impact basin, the second-largest well-preserved basin-scale impact structure known on the planet. The Rembrandt basin is comparable in age to the Caloris basin, is partially flooded by volcanic plains, and displays a unique wheel-and-spoke-like pattern of basin-radial and basin-concentric wrinkle ridges and graben. Stratigraphic relations indicate a multistaged infilling and deformational history involving successive or overlapping phases of contractional and extensional deformation. The youngest deformation of the basin involved the formation of a approximately 1000-kilometer-long lobate scarp, a product of the global cooling and contraction of Mercury.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1095-9203
Volume :
324
Issue :
5927
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
19407197
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1172109