Category
A type of pit.
Synonyms
Collapse crater, Collapse depression (Greeley and Gault 1979), Collapse pit, Subsidence crater
Description
Pit craters are circular to elliptical, shallow, steep-sided depressions which lack the elevated rim and ejecta deposits typical of impact craters or lava flows typically associated with calderas (Wyrick et al. 2004). Pit craters commonly have a conical shape, with or without a flat floor (Wyrick et al. 2004). They are sometimes found in alignments (pit crater chains), which in many cases coalesce into linear troughs and are bounded by a graben (Fig. 1). Volcanic pit craters have little or no overflow of their lava lakes (Halliday et al. 2012).
Cyane Catena pit crater...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Ferrill DA, Wyrick DY, Morris AP, Sims DW, Franklin NM (2004) Dilational fault slip and pit chain formation on Mars. GSA Today 14(10). doi:10.1130/1052-5173(2004)
Ferrill DA, Wyrick DY, Smart KJ (2011) Coseismic, dilational-fault and extension-fracture related pit chain formation in Iceland: analog for pit chains on Mars. Lithosphere 3:133–142
Gault DE (1970) Saturation and equilibrium conditions for impact cratering on the lunar surface: Criteria and implications. Radio Sci. 5:273–291
Gillis-Davis JJ, Blewett DT, Gaskell RW, Denevi BW, Robinson MS, Strom RG, Solomon SC, Sprague AL (2009) Pit-floor craters on Mercury: evidence of near-surface igneous activity. Earth Planet Sci Lett 285(3–4):243–250
Greeley R, Gault DE (1979) Endogenic craters on basaltic lava flows: size frequency distribution. Lunar Planet Sci Conf 10:2919–2933, Houston
Halliday WR, Stefansson A, favre G (2011) Pit craters and open vertical volcanic conduits of Earth and Mars. GSA annual meeting, Minneapolis, 9–12 Oct 2011, abstract #189935
Halliday W, Favre G, Stefansson A, Whitfield P, Banks N (2012) Occurrence and absence of lava tube caves with some other volcanic cavities; a consideration of human habitation sites on Mars. 43rd Lunar Planet Sci Conf, abstract #1613, Houston
Haruyama J, Hioki K, Shirao KM, Morota T, Hiesinger H, van der Bogert CH, Miyamoto H, Iwasaki A, Yokota Y, Ohtake M, Matsunaga T, Hara S, Nakanotani S, Pieters CM (2009) Possible lunar lava tube skylight observed by SELENE cameras. Geophys Res Lett 36:L21206. doi:10.1029/2009GL040635
Haruyama J, Hara S, Hioki K, Morota T, Yokota Y, Shirao M, Hiesinger H, van der Bogert CH, Miyamoto H, Iwasaki A, Ohtake M, Saito Y, Matsunaga T, Nakanotani S, Pieters CM, Lucey PG (2010) New discoveries of lunar holes in Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Ingenii. 41st Lunar Planet Sci Conf, abstract #1285, Houston
Horstman KC, Melosh HJ (1989) Drainage pits in cohesionless materials: implications for the surface of Phobos. J Geophys Res 94(B9):12433–12441. doi:10.1029/JB094iB09p12433
Krassilnikov AS, Head JW (2003) Calderas on Venus and Earth (I). Planet earth: overview of calderas. Microsymposium 38, MS051
Larson CV (1992) Nomenclature of lava tube features. In: Rea GT (ed) 6th international symposium of Vulcanospeleology, National Speleological Society, Hilo, Aug 1991
Michaud RL, Pappalardo RT, Collings GC (2008) Pit chains on enceladus: a discussion of their origin. Lunar Planet Sci Conf XXXIX, abstract #1678, Houston
Mouginis-Mark PJ, Rowland SK (2001) The geomorphology of planetary calderas. Geomorphology 37:201–223
Okubo CH, Martel SJ (1998) Pit crater formation on Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 86:1–18
Robinson MS, Ashley JW, Boyd AK, Wagner RV, Speyerer EJ, Hawke BR, Hiesinger H, van der Bogert CH (2012) Confirmation of sublunarean voids and thin layering in mare deposits. Planet Space Sci 69(1):18–27
Roche O, van Wyk de Vries B, Druitt TH (2001) Sub-surface structures and collapse mechanisms of summit pit craters. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 105(1–2):1–18
Smart KJ, Wyrick DY, Ferrill DA (2011) Discrete element modeling of Martian pit formation in response to extensional fracturing and dilational normal faulting. J Geophys Res Planet 116:E04005. doi:10.1029/2010JE003742
Tanaka KL (1997) Origin of Valles Marineris and Noctis Labyrinthus, Mars, by structurally controlled collapse and erosion of crustal materials. Lunar Planet Sci XXVIII, abstract #1169, Houston
Wyrick D, Ferrill DA, Morris AP, Colton SL, Sims DW (2004) Distribution, morphology, and origins of Martian pit crater chains. J Geophys Res 109:E06005. doi:10.1029/2004JE002240
Wyrick DY, Buczkowski DL, Bleamaster LF, Collins GC (2010) Pit crater chains across the solar system. Lunar Planet Sci Conf 41, abstract #1413, Houston
Young DA, Hansen VL (2003) Geologic map of the Rusalka Planitia quadrangle (v–25), Venus, Geologic investigations series, i–2783, Atlas of Venus. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
van der Bogert, C.H., Ashley, J.W., Ferrill, D. (2014). Pit Crater. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_260-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_260-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Pit Crater- Published:
- 11 February 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_260-2
-
Original
Pit Crater- Published:
- 05 September 2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_260-1