A multi-ringed basin (also a multi-ring impact basin) is not a simple
bowl-shaped crater, or a
peak ring crater, but one containing multiple concentric
topographic rings;[1] a multi-ringed basin could be described as a massive
impact crater, surrounded by circular
chains of mountains[2] resembling rings on a
bull's-eye. A multi-ringed basin may have an area of many thousands of square kilometres.[3]
An impact crater of diameter bigger than about 180 miles (290 km) is referred to as a basin.[4]
Structure
In adjacent rings, the ratio of the diameters approximates √2:1 ≈ 1.41 to 1.[5][6][7]
one peak-ring, i.e., a
crater rim, which is generally circular, and
a mountainous region which surrounds the basin center.
A multi-ringed basin has an important difference, which is multiple peak-rings.
In extremely large collisions, following the impact the rebound of the surface can obliterate any trace of the initial impact point. Usually a peak ring crater has a high structure with a
terrace, and has
slump structures inside of it. In 2016, research brought forward new theories about the
lunar mare called
Mare Orientale on Earth's
Moon, as to how it formed.[8]
Multi-ring basins are some of the largest, oldest, rarest and least understood of impact craters. There are various theories to explain the formation of multi-ringed basins, however there is currently no consensus.[9][10]
Examples
Mare Orientale on Earth's Moon is a multi-ringed basin created by an impactor perhaps 60 kilometres (40 mi) in diameter traveling at 14 kilometres per second (9 mi/s), or about 52,100 kilometres per hour (32,400 mph)[11]
Central-peak crater – Large impact craters with uplifted centresPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Complex crater – Large impact craters with uplifted centres
Impact crater – Circular depression in a solid astronomical body formed by the impact of a smaller object
Impact event – Collision of two astronomical objects
Impact structure – Geologic structure formed from impact on a planetary surface
Peak ring (crater) – Roughly circular ring or plateau, possibly discontinuous, surrounding an impact crater's centerPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Pedestal crater – type of impact craterPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
Expanded crater – Type of secondary impact craterPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
^"Lunar Landforms Teacher Page". Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i. 1998. Archived from
the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
^"Multiringed basin". Encyclopedia Britannica. February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
^[(url is hijacked by suspicious site) "How Multi-Ring Craters Form Revealed by New Research"]. Ideas, Inventions And Innovations. October 29, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2019. {{
cite web}}: Check |url= value (
help)
^McKinnon, W. B.; Alexopoulos, J. S. (January 1994). "Some implications of large impact craters and basins on Venus for terrestrial ringed craters and planetary evolution". KT Event and Other Catastrophes.
hdl:
2060/19940023803.