Friday, December 4, 2009

Debris Flows I (LROC)


Debris flow extending down the southwest wall of Janssen K
(a Near Side southern highlands crater about 16 km in diameter). Image width is 570 meters (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University).


Jeff Plescia
LROC News System

Two separate debris flows extend down the western interior wall of the the impact crater Janssen K (46.1° S, 42.3° E). A portion of one flow is observed in the upper left of the image, and a larger one extends from the bottom center. The bumpy terrain between the two flows is the underlying crater wall. These flows extend from the upper reaches of the inner crater wall (having traveled across ~4.5 km of the inner crater wall) and are composed of loose debris. The debris lobes and the loose rocks cover a sheet of impact melt that fills the crater floor. Did these debris flows form as part of the impact process, or did they form later seismic processes due to a nearby impact?

Browse the whole NAC Image and see if you can find clues to help determine when these flows formed.

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