Title

Identification of possible source craters for Martian meteorite ALH84001

Keywords

ALH84001; Impact craters; Mars; Martian meteorites; SNC meteorites

Abstract

Twelve meteorites are currently believed to be samples from the Martian surface. Eleven of these meteorites, called the shergottites, nakhlites, and chassignites (or SNC meteorites), have young formation ages (≤1.3 × 109 yr). The twelfth Martian meteorite, ALH84001, is very ancient (4.5 × 109 yr). The differences in formation ages and composition suggest that these twelve meteorites came from at least two and possibly three or more different source craters on Mars. The eleven SNC meteorites are from a young volcanic area, likely the Tharsis Region in the western hemisphere of Mars. Previous studies have identified up to nine possible source craters for these meteorites. The old Martian meteorite, ALH84001, must be from the ancient terrain of Mars, which covers about 40% of the planet primarily in the southern hemisphere. A search through the 42,283-entryCatalog of Large Martian Impact Craters has produced 23 possible source craters, which upon further photogeologic analysis has been reduced to two strong candidates and six runners-up.

Publication Date

12-1-1997

Publication Title

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

Volume

3111

Number of Pages

26-35

Document Type

Article; Proceedings Paper

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1117/12.278772

Socpus ID

0031306448 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0031306448

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