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2015 GSA Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA (1-4 November 2015)

Paper No. 308-1
Presentation Time: 9:00 AM-6:30 PM

PRELIMINARY GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE AC-H-1 ASARI QUADRANGLE OF CERES: AN INTEGRATED MAPPING STUDY USING DAWN SPACECRAFT DATA


RUESCH, Ottaviano1, MCFADDEN, Lucy A.2, HIESINGER, Harald3, SCULLY, Jennifer E.C.4, KNEISSL, Thomas5, HUGHSON, Kynan H.G.6, WILLIAMS, David A.7, ROATSCH, Thomas8 and PREUSKER, Frank8, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, ORAU Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Greenbelt, MD 20771, (2)NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771, (3)Institut fuer Planetologie WWU, Muenster, Germany, (4)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, (5)Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, 12249, Germany, (6)Dept. of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 595 Charles E Young Drive E, Los Angeles, CA 90095, (7)School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287, (8)German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Rutherfordstr. 2, Berlin, 12489, Germany, ottaviano.ruesch@nasa.gov

We present a photo-geological map of the “Asari” quadrangle covering the North Pole area of Ceres (66°N-90°N), based on Dawn Framing Camera images and mosaics with a resolution of ~400 m/pixel. The mapping process is supported by a stereo-photogrammetric digital elevation model. We identified few isolated plateaus of up to ~5 km in altitude relative to the datum and topographic depressions interpreted to be highly degraded impact basins. At 85°N/8°E a cone-shaped positive relief is found, few tens of kms large. Overall, the entire quadrangle is heavily cratered, and our measurements of crater density (9.8E-04 km-2 for crater diameters >10 km) identify the area as the most cratered on Ceres. This suggest a different geological history of the quadrangle relative to, e.g., the equatorial regions. The morphology of impact craters is characterized by central peaks and mass wasting deposits. We identified a morphologically-fresh mass wasting deposit at 78°N/38°E, 20 km in length, with a lobate margin and striations on its surface. This deposit and the positive relief at 85°N/8°E will be the focus of future investigations when higher spatial resolution images will be acquired by the Dawn Framing Camera. Observations with a spatial resolution of up to 35 m/pixel are planned and will allow photo-geological mapping at higher details. Support by N. Schmedemann, S. Marchi, R. Jaumann, A. Nathues, C.A. Raymond, C.T. Russell, and the Dawn Instrument, Operations, and Science Teams is acknowledged.

Session No. 308--Booth# 338

T172. Geology of Dwarf Planets: First Results from NASA's Dawn Mission to Ceres (Posters)
Wednesday, 4 November 2015: 9:00 AM-6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall (Baltimore Convention Center)
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 47, No. 7, p.781
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