Tooting is an impact crater (of the type

rampart crater Rampart craters are a specific type of impact crater which are accompanied by distinctive fluidized ejecta features found mainly on Mars. Only one example is known on Earth, the Nördlinger Ries impact structure in Germany. A rampart crater displ ...

) with volcanic features at 23.1°N, 207.1°E, in Amazonis Planitia ( Amazonis quadrangle), due west of the volcano Olympus Mons, on

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 ...

. It was identified by planetary geologist Peter Mouginis-Mark in September 2004. Scientists estimate that its age is on the order of hundreds of thousands of years, which is relatively young for a Martian crater. A later study confirms this

order of magnitude An order of magnitude is an approximation of the logarithm of a value relative to some contextually understood reference value, usually 10, interpreted as the base of the logarithm and the representative of values of magnitude one. Logarithmic di ...

estimate. A preliminary paper describing the geology and geometry of Tooting was published in 2007 by the journal ''Meteoritics and Planetary Science'', vol. 42, pages 1615–1625. Further papers have been published, including a 2010 analysis of flows on the walls of Tooting crater by A. R. Morris et al. (''Icarus'' vol. 209, p. 369–389), and a 2012 review paper by P.J. Mouginis-Mark and J.M. Boyce in ''Chemie der Erde Geochemistry'', vol. 72, p. 1–23. A geologic map has also been submitted in 2012 to the U.S. Geological Survey for consideration and future publication.

Naming

Tooting is named after the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

suburb of the same name. This is in accordance with the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

's rules for

planetary nomenclature Planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is a system of uniquely identifying features on the surface of a planet or natural satellite so that the features can be easily located, described, and discussed. Since the invention of the tel ...

, which specify that craters on Mars less than 60 km in diameter should be named after "villages of the world with a population of less than 100,000". The discoverer named it after his home town because he "thought ismum and brother would get a kick out of having their home town paired with a land form on Mars". This caused a stir in the British press, with many well-known media outlets reporting on the issue.

Geology

The crater's youth was inferred from the lack of superimposed cratering, preserved impact melt in the crater, and that the central peak of the crater has not been buried by

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

. Research published in the journal ''Icarus'' has found pits in Tooting Crater that are caused by hot ejecta falling on ground containing ice. The pits are formed by heat forming steam that rushes out from groups of pits simultaneously, thereby blowing away from the pit ejecta.

Due to the flatness of the surrounding lava flows (at 3872 m below Martian datum), it is possible to infer much about the crater's formation and ejecta blanket. For example, the volume of ejecta deposited from the formation of the crater is estimated to be 450 cubic kilometres and that this process took less than half an hour.

Comparison

Tooting has been compared to the craters Santa Fe and Endeavour (of ''Opportunity'' ER-Bfame).

Source of Martian Meteorites

Tooting has been suggested as the most likely source of depleted Shergottite meteorites that were ejected 1.1 million years ago.

References

External links