impact craters
Meteorite landing marks
Impact craters are bowl-shaped depressions formed when meteorites, asteroids, or comets strike a planetary surface.
The Moon's surface is pocked with them; Earth has fewer visible ones because weather and geology erode them over time.
Arizona's Meteor Crater is among the best-preserved examples.
Scientists study impact craters to understand collision history across the solar system.
- regolithFragmented covering over bedrock
- ejectaMaterial forcibly discharged
- shatter conesImpact-induced rock fractures
- TychoMajor lunar impact crater
- asteroidSun-orbiting rocky mass
breccia · shock wave · bolide · space rock · meteors · comet · chondrites · rebound · ground zero · moon · iron meteorite · lunar surface · explosion · extinction event · depression · ancient · cosmic · Earth
- Europawater ice, ice crust, frozen surface, ridges, surface cracks
- Marsred planet, Mars surface, Martian soil, Martian atmosphere, Olympus Mons
- moonfull moon, lunar, crescent moon, new moon, half moon
- planetary scienceplanetary cores, planet formation, planetary formation, planetary rings, atmospheres
- alien landscapesMars surface, ring systems
- Inner Planetssurface, atmosphere, orbit, core, mantle
impact cratersshield volcanoes
Broad, gently sloped volcanic mountains
stratovolcanoes · cinder cones · volcanic craters · geysers · hot springs
impact cratersmountains
Tall elevated landmasses
peaks · mounds · volcanic cones · domes · hills
impact craterserosion
Gradual wearing away
sedimentation · infilling · resurfacing · weathering · glacial erosion
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