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Equatorial Features

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

  • 52 Accesses

Definition

Surface features occurring along the equator.

Subtypes and Regional Variations

  1. (1)

    Spectral feature: equatorial great circle (Rhea)

  2. (2)

    Topographic feature:

    1. (2.1)

      Equatorial ridge (Iapetus).

    2. (2.2)

      Equatorial ridge (“flying saucer” bodies): smooth rings around low-gravity small moons orbiting within the main rings of Saturn (Pan, Daphnis, Atlas [Fig. 1]). The ridges are equatorial and are in the same planes as Saturn’s rings. The shape of these bodies is close to the size of the Hills sphere or Roche lobe, which means that a very little disturbance is enough for material to be lost from the satellite’s surface into Saturn orbit. However, for centrifugal forces to balance with gravity forces at the asteroid’s equator, their rotation should be faster. Tidal stresses would produce a body elongate in the radial direction. The presence of the ridges is best explained by accretion from ring particles (Charnoz et al. 2007; Porco et al. 2007; Thomas et al. 2013).

      ...

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References

  • Charnoz S, Brahic A, Thomas PC, Porco CC (2007) The equatorial ridges of Pan and Atlas: terminal accretionary ornaments? Science 318:1622–1624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porco CC, Thomas PC, Weiss JW, Richardson DC (2007) Saturn’s small inner satellites: clues to their origins. Science 318:1602–1607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas PC, Burns JA, Hedman M, Helfenstein P, Morrison S, Tiscareno MS, Veverka J (2013) The inner small satellites of Saturn: a variety of worlds. Icarus 226(1):999–1019

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Science Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Henrik Hargitai

Authors
  1. Henrik Hargitai
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Correspondence to Henrik Hargitai .

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Hargitai, H. (2014). Equatorial Features. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_631-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_631-1

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  • 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

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