Paper No. 308-2
Presentation Time: 9:00 AM-6:30 PM
INITIAL GEOLOGIC MAPPING OF THE AC-H-2 CONIRAYA QUADRANGLE OF CERES USING DAWN SPACECRAFT DATA
PASCKERT, Jan Hendrik
1,
HIESINGER, Harald1, WILLIAMS, David A.
2, BUCZKOWSKI, Debra L.
3, CROWN, David A.
4, SCHENK, Paul M.
5, SCULLY, Jennifer E.C.
6, JAUMANN, Ralf
7, ROATSCH, Thomas
8 and RAYMOND, Carol A.
9, (1)Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, Münster, 48149, Germany, (2)School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, (3)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd, Laurel, MD 20723, (4)Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, (5)Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058, (6)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, (7)Institute of Planetary Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Rutherfordstr. 2, Berlin, 12489, Germany, (8)German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Rutherfordstr. 2, Berlin, 12489, Germany, (9)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, hiesinger@uni-muenster.de
We report on our preliminary mapping results for the Ac-H-2 Coniraya Quadrangle of dwarf planet Ceres based on Framing Camera (FC) mosaics from the Dawn Approach (1.3 km/px) and Survey (415 m/px) orbits. This quadrangle is located between 21-66°N and 0-90°E and is dominated by mostly highly degraded impact craters of diameters between 50 and 200 km and clusters of small- to midsize impact craters. Color data show that this quadrangle is generally darker than most regions of the southern hemisphere.
Two of the most prominent impact craters in this quadrangle have been named Coniraya and Gaue crater, respectively. Coniraya is the largest more or less intact impact crater with a diameter of 136 km, centered at 65.8°N/40.5°E. It appears shallow and its crater rim is heavily degraded but still continuous. At the current resolution, textural differences between the interior and exterior of the crater are not visible. With a diameter of 84 km, Gaue crater appears to be the freshest large impact crater in this quadrangle. It is located at the eastern border of the Coniraya Quadrangle with a small central peak at 30°N/85.7°E. The crater rim is quite sharp and the ejecta blanket can be traced around the crater to a distance of ~200km from the crater center. Most of the crater floor around the central peak is covered by a smooth uniform unit with a lower impact crater population than the surrounding surfaces. Color data show that this smooth unit is darker than the surrounding surfaces. A similar unit can be found on the floor of a complex cluster of 10-56 km diameter craters at 32°N/40°E. With upcoming higher resolution data we will refine our geologic map and will specifically investigate possible formation processes of these smooth units.
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