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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms pp 1–4Cite as

Crater Chain (Impact, Primary)

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Definition

A linear crater chain is a regularly spaced row of three or more impact craters (for two craters doublet crater) with similar sizes and apparently identical ages, formed by the impact of tidally disrupted bodies.

Synonyms

(Impact) crater row; Individual craters in a chain: catena craters; Linear crater chain

Description

Linear crater chains consist of strings of closely spaced roughly similar-sized aligned craters.

Subtypes

(1) Linear; (2) Doublet crater, if a “row” consists of two craters.

Formation

They likely originate from weak rubble pile asteroids or comets (fragile aggregates of large and small components held together by self-gravity or surface forces rather than material strength) tidally pulled apart during a close approach to a planet, separating into a train of fragments which then impacted a moon rather than escaping to interplanetary space.

Since there are no asteroids in the outer solar system, only comets can be the source of crater chains on giant planet...

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References

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  • Passey QR, Shoemaker EM (1982) Craters and basins on Ganymede and Callisto: morphological indicators of crustal evolution. In: Morrison D (ed) Satellites of Jupiter. University Arizona Press, Tucson, pp 379–432

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  • Schenk PM (n.d.) Catena on Ganymede. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/schenk/chain.html

  • Schenk PM, Asphaug E, McKinnon WB, Melosh HJ, Weissman PR (1996) Cometary nuclei and tidal disruption: the geologic record of crater chains on Callisto and Ganymede. Icarus 121:249–274

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  • Sekiguchi N (1970) On the fissions of a solid body under influence of tidal force; with application to the problem of twin craters on the moon. Moon 1:429–439

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  • Wichman RW, Wood CA (1995) The davy crater chain: implications for tidal disruption in the Earth-Moon System and elsewhere. Geophys Res Lett 22(5):583–586. doi:10.1029/94GL02966

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, 20742-2421, MD, College Park

    Derek C. Richardson

  2. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, USA

    Trudi Hoogenboom Hagen

Authors
  1. Derek C. Richardson
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  2. Trudi Hoogenboom Hagen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Derek C. Richardson .

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Copyright information

© 2014 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Australia, as represented by Trudi Hoogenboom

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Cite this entry

Richardson, D.C., Hagen, T.H. (2014). Crater Chain (Impact, Primary). In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_73-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_73-2

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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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