Definition
A secondary impact crater with a well-developed central mound present in the crater floor, usually formed by the low-velocity impact of clustered ejecta fragments from a primary impact crater. The central mound is different from the central peak in a complex crater. These craters usually occur in the forms of clusters and chains in the distal ejecta ray deposits of the primary impact craters, but sometimes these are isolated. The size of central mound secondary craters depends on the size of the parent primary craters.
Category
A type of secondary crater.
Description
The central mound secondary craters occur usually in the distal rays of large primary impact craters, known to occur both on the Moon and Mars. They tend to occur in the secondary crater chains and clusters. In general, most of the craters are circular, except for a few that have polygonal or irregular shapes. Rims of the central mound craters appear as prominent ridges, indicating a rapid thinning of ejecta...
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References
Kumar PS, Kumar AS, Keerthi V, Goswami JN, Krishna BG, Kumar ASK (2011) Chandrayaan-1 observation of distant secondary craters of Copernicus exhibiting central mound morphology: evidence for low velocity clustered impacts on the Moon. Planet Space Sci 59(9):870–879
Quaide WL, Oberbeck VR (1968) Thickness determinations of the lunar surface layer from lunar impact craters. J Geophys Res 73:5247–5270
Schultz PH, Gault DE (1985) Clustered impacts: experiments and implications. J Geophys Res 90:3701–3732
Schultz PH, Singer J (1980) A comparison of secondary craters on the Moon, Mercury, and Mars. Proc Lunar Planet Sci Conf 11:2243–2259, Houston
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Kumar, P.S. (2015). Central Mound (Secondary) Crater. In: Hargitai, H., Kereszturi, Á. (eds) Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3_40
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3_40
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