Mojave (crater) on:
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Mojave is a 58 km diameter 
The crater is located within the Martian Xanthe Terra region.
Image:Wikimojave.jpg, Mojave as seen by CTX camera (on
Accurate animations of flights over Mars in at 100 meter altitude
High resolution video
by Seán Doran of an overflight of the northwest rim of Mojave, based on a NAS
(see Fig. 4)
Another video
by Seán Doran of a south-to-north overflight of parts of Tiu Valles and Chryse Chaos, passing over Mojave in about the middle, based on
impact crater
An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...
in the Oxia Palus quadrangle
The Oxia Palus quadrangle is one of a series of list of quadrangles on Mars, 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Oxia Palus quadrangle is also referred to as MC-11 (Mars ...
of Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
, located at 7.5° N and 33.0° W. It was named after the town of Mojave in southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
, U.S.
The crater is located within the Martian Xanthe Terra region.
Description
Mojave hasalluvial fan
An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to Semi-arid climate, semiar ...
s that look remarkably similar to landforms in the Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
in the American southwest. Fans inside and around the outsides of the crater are closely similar to Earth's alluvial fans. As on Earth, the largest rocks are near the mouths of the fans. Because the channels start at ridge tops, it is believed they were formed by heavy downpours. Researchers have suggested that the rain may have been initiated by impacts.
Some parts of the crater display a high concentration of closely spaced pits. Pits show little or no evidence of rims or ejecta. The pits are so close to each other that adjacent pits often share the same wall. It is believed that the pits form from steam produced when the heat from the impact process interacts with ice in the ground.
The depth of Mojave is approximately 2,600 meters (1.63 miles). Based on its ratio of depth to diameter, researchers believe it is very young. It is not old enough to have accumulated much material and start to fill. Its relatively undegraded state helps scientists model impact processes on Mars. If one measures the diameter of a crater, the original depth can be estimated with various ratios. Because of this relationship, researchers have found that many Martian craters contain a great deal of material; much of it is believed to be ice deposited when the climate was different.Garvin, J., et al. 2002. Global geometric properities of martian impact craters. Lunar Planet Sci. 33. Abstract @1255.
Mojave is a rayed crater, another indication of its youth, and is the largest such crater on Mars. Based on crater counts of its ejecta blanket
An ejecta blanket is a generally symmetrical apron of ejecta that surrounds an impact crater; it is layered thickly at the crater's rim and thin to discontinuous at the blanket's outer edge.
The impact cratering is one of the basic surface format ...
, it is thought to be about 3 million years old. It is believed to be the most recent crater of its size on Mars, and has been identified as the probable source of the shergottite meteorite
A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
s collected on Earth. However, the latter hypothesis is controversial.
Gallery
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
The ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (''MRO'') is a spacecraft designed to search for the existence of water on Mars and provide support for missions to Mars, as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. It was launched from Cape Canaveral on Au ...
).
Image:Alluvial Fans in Mojave Crater.jpg, Alluvial fans in Mojave, as seen by HiRISE
High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction ...
. The crater rim is on the right. A branched network of channels runs downward towards the left.
Image:Mojave Crater.jpg, Another view of Mojave from HiRISE. North is at bottom.
See also
References
External links
Accurate animations of flights over Mars in at 100 meter altitude
High resolution video
by Seán Doran of an overflight of the northwest rim of Mojave, based on a NAS
(see Fig. 4)
Another video
by Seán Doran of a south-to-north overflight of parts of Tiu Valles and Chryse Chaos, passing over Mojave in about the middle, based on
Mars Express
''Mars Express'' is a space exploration mission by the European Space Agency, European Space Agency (ESA) exploring the planet Mars and its moons since 2003, and the first planetary mission attempted by ESA.
''Mars Express'' consisted of two ...
imagery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mojave (Crater)
Impact craters on Mars
Oxia Palus quadrangle