Chincoteague is an impact crater in the
Cebrenia quadrangle
The Cebrenia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The quadrangle is located in the northeastern portion of Mars’ eastern hemisphere and ...
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 ...
, located at 41.5° N and 236.0° W. It was named after
Chincoteague, a town in Virginia, US. Chincoteague crater has a small central mound. Along the wall, a number of gullies are visible.
File:Chincoteague Crater close up.jpg, Close-up of Chincoteague crater, as seen by HiRISE. Image close-up view of previous image. Note the gullies and associated landforms.
File:Wikichincoteague.jpg, Chincoteague crater, as seen by CTX camera (on MRO).
File:Wikichincoteaguegullies.jpg, Gullies on western wall of Chincoteague crater, as seen by CTX camera. Note: this is an enlargement of the previous image.
File:Chincoteague crater.jpg, A topographic map created using Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data. This map shows the relative elevation in elevation contour lines (dashed) and elevation contour lines (bold) with an average accuracy of each point is originally ~ in horizontal position and ~ in radius (Neumann and others, 2001). However, the total elevation uncertainty is at least ± due to the global error in the areoid
The gravity of Mars is a natural phenomenon, due to the law of gravity, or gravitation, by which all things with mass around the planet Mars are brought towards it. It is weaker than Earth's gravity due to the planet's smaller mass. The average ...
.
Gullies
Chincoteague crater displays gullies on its wall. Many ideas have been put forth to explain them. For many years, many researchers thought they were made by recent liquid water.
[Malin, M., Edgett, K. 2000. "Evidence for recent groundwater seepage and ]surface runoff
Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when t ...
on Mars". ''Science'' 288, 2330–2335. However, with more observations, other mechanisms became possible. It was observed that new gullies were forming today during the Martian spring when dry ice was able to
sublimate (turn from a solid to a gas). Chunks of dry ice could accumulate in the cold winter months and then slide down when warmed. In the thin atmosphere of the planet they would ride on a cushion of gas that was coming off the pieces of dry ice.
See also
*
List of craters on Mars
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This is a list of craters on Mars. Impact craters on Mars larger than exist by the hundreds of thousands, but only about one thousand of them have names. Names are assigned by the International Astronomical Union after petitioning by ...
References
{{Geography of Mars
Impact craters on Mars
Cebrenia quadrangle