Central Peak Crater

Abstract

DefinitionComplex crater with a single central uplift, a tight cluster of peaks, or a tightly spaced ring-like arrangement of peaks (e.g., Baker et al. 2011).CategoryA type of complex crater.DescriptionThe central peak is the simplest interior feature of complex craters. Many central peak craters have scalloped rims, terraced inner walls, and hummocky floors, on both rocky and icy bodies. These are inferred to represent failure by slumping and mass wasting of materials onto the floor (Greeley et al. 2000). The central peak itself can be a simple peak at or near the center of the crater floor, or can be composed of multiple uplift segments.MorphometryCentral peak diameter and height increase proportionally with crater rim crest diameter (Hale and Head 1979 and references therein). The top of the central peak is generally below the rim and the surrounding terrain (Öhman 2009 and references therein) (Fig. 1), although central peaks in the largest craters can reach and exceed the surroundi ...

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Central Peak Basin
▶Protobasin
Central Peak Crater
Veronica J. Bray
1
, Teemu O
¨hman
2
and
Henrik Hargitai
3
1
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of
Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
2
Arctic Planetary Science Institute, Rovaniemi,
Finland
3
NASA Ames Research Center / NPP,
Moffett Field, CA, USA
Definition
Complex crater with a single central uplift, a tight
cluster of peaks, or a tightly spaced ring-like
arrangement of peaks (e.g., Baker et al. 2011).
Category
A type of ▶complex crater.
Description
The central peak is the simplest interior feature of
complex craters. Many central peak craters have
scalloped rims, terraced inner walls, and hum-
mocky floors, on both rocky and icy bodies.
These are inferred to represent failure by
slumping and mass wasting of materials onto
the floor (Greeley et al. 2000). The central peak
itself can be a simple peak at or near the center of
the crater floor, or can be composed of multiple
uplift segments.
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Morphometry
Central peak diameter and height increase pro-
portionally with crater rim crest diameter (Hale
and Head 1979 and references therein). The top
of the central peak is generally below the rim and
the surrounding terrain (O
¨hman 2009 and refer-
ences therein) (Fig. 1), although central peaks in
the largest craters can reach and exceed the sur-
rounding terrain level (e.g., Pythagoras, a 144 km
diameter crater, Fig. 2). On some icy bodies, peak
height can exceed rim height (e.g., ‘Gula’ on
Central Peak Crater, Fig. 1 Morphometric parameters
and features of fresh central peak craters (Melosh 1989;
Turtle et al. 2005; Bray et al. 2008). Drim-to-rim diame-
ter, measured from rim crest to rim crest, D
f
diameter of
the flat inner floor, W
t
the width of the terraced zone, D
cp
central peak diameter “measured at the contact with the
surrounding crater floor (i.e., measured at the top of the
allochthonous crater-fill breccias and melt rocks)” (Turtle
et al. 2005). Replaced by central uplift diameter for eroded
craters. dcrater depth measured from the maximum rim
elevation to the lowest point on the crater floor, h
r
rim
height: the height of the crater rim above the average
surrounding terrain level, h
cp
central peak height: maxi-
mum elevation of the central peak summit above the crater
floor. (1) Pre-impact terrain, (2) crater wall, terraced zone
if terraced, (3) central peak, (4) flat crater floor, (5) near-
rim ejecta blanket, (6) crater rim crest
Central Peak Crater,
Fig. 2 The 144 km
diameter Pythagoras crater
on the Moon. A SW to NE
topographic profile was
taken from the Global
Lunar Digital Terrain
Model (100 m resolution,
Scholten et al. 2012)to
show the large central peak
that rises higher than the
surrounding ground level.
Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter (NASA/GSFC/
ASU)
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Ganymede). At lunar crater, diameters of approx-
imately 80 km central peak heights decrease. This
is also reflected in decreasing volume measure-
ments of central peaks (e.g., Hale and Grieve
1982; Bray et al., 2012) and is thought to mark
the beginning of the transition in crater morphol-
ogy from central peaks to peak-rings. Central
peak morphometric parameters include peak
diameter, peak height, peak area, volume, trend
(direction or elongation), offset (of the largest
feature of the peak from the crater center), and
azimuth (direction of offset) (Allen 1975).
Subtypes
(1) Central peaks may be single massifs, ridges,
or various types of clusters of peaks (Beer
and M€
adler 1837, 130}77). Classification of
the central peaks by Hale and Head (1979)
included simple and complex types and arcu-
ate, symmetric, and linear types. The geom-
etry or the morphologic complexity of the
peak does not appear to be related to the
size of the crater (O
¨hman 2009 and refer-
ences therein) (Fig. 3).
(2) On low gravity bodies, broad central massifs
are produced in small bowl-shaped craters/
basins (▶complex crater, low gravity)
(Schenk et al. 2012) Fig. 4. These are not
created via the same mechanism as typical
central peaks.
Central Peak Crater, Fig. 3 Central peak craters. (a)
75 km diameter King crater, Moon displaying a lobster-
claw-like central peak (El-Baz 1978) 5.0N 120.5E.
LROC WAC mosaics. (NASA/GSFC/ASU); (b)93km
diameter Icarus crater, Moon. It has an unusually high
central peak (Allen 1975), almost reaching the crater rim
(Scholten et al. 2012) 5.3S 173.2W. LO-I-033 M
(NASA); (c) 36 km diameter terraced crater on Mercury
at 54.33S 311.2E. MESSENGER Image ID: 699956
(NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Labo-
ratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington); (d)37km
diameter Saskia crater, Venus. Magellan radar mosaic
P36711 (NASA/JPL)
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Formation
The central peak is a result of uplift of the mate-
rial that originally underlay the transient cavity’s
central region (Kuiper 1954) during the modifi-
cation stage of impact crater formation. Uplift is
associated with the response of the target material
to the unloading by the rarefaction wave, as well
as with the converging of inwards and down-
wards collapsing material from the transient cra-
ter walls (Fig. 4). This brings subsurface rocks to
the surface (e.g., Grieve and Pilkington 1996).
This is in contrast to the central mounds of
small simple craters which are made up of debris
slumped in from the crater walls.
The existence of central peaks in impact cra-
ters prompted discussion of how the surface of
a planet or moon can act in a fluid-like manner
during impact crater formation. It is thought that
a transient weakening mechanism is required,
which allows the fast flow of the crater material
to form a central peak, followed by the return of
the normal material strength, which then main-
tains the uplift as part of the final crater morphol-
ogy (e.g., Melosh 1989).
Surface Units
(1) Central peak.
(2) Flat floor (annular basin, ring depression;
circular trough; rim syncline; annular
trough): the ring plains between crater rim
and central peak. The central peak is
surrounded by an annulus of fragment-
containing impact-melt sheet. Breccias com-
prised of different rock types (polymict brec-
cias) from various locations are found at the
base of the annular plain, over the fractured
bedrock. The central uplift exposes originally
deep-seated, highly disturbed shocked rocks.
(3) The rim area is structurally displaced, ter-
raced, and pervasively fractured (▶crater
rim). The underlying bedrock of the terrace
is covered by impact melt and ejecta; most of
the latter are highly mixed and moderately
shocked. Bodies of ejected melt tend to pool
in surface depressions on top of the breccias
(Ho
¨rz et al. 1991).
Prominent Examples
Type example: Tycho, Moon. On the icy moons:
Melanthius, Tethys; Herschel, Mimas (Fig. 5).
Regional variations (see also: ▶complex
crater).
Craters with central peaks appear in differ-
ently sized craters on differently sized planets.
The size of transition depends on local gravita-
tional acceleration and target material character-
istics (Pike 1980).
Moon: Central peaks are found with increas-
ing frequency in craters between 17 and 35 km
diameter on the Moon. Lunar craters from 35 to
about 170 km in diameter possess a central peak.
Central Peak Crater, Fig. 4 Central peak crater forma-
tion (After Fig. 3.10 from French (1998), modified)
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The height of the peak reaches its maximum in
80 km diameter craters (Hale and Head 1979
and references therein). Craters smaller than
40 km in diameter in maria have a higher abun-
dance of central peaks than in highlands (O
¨hman
2009 and references therein).
Mars: Central peak craters occur between 5.0
and 139.8 km (Barlow 2010). The peak basal
diameters are 40–50 % of the crater diameter in
fresh craters. Central peak transition occurs at
5.2 km in the southern highlands of Mars, at
8.4 km in the northern plains, and at 11 km at
high latitudes poleward of 40in the zone of
water-saturated surface materials. There are
only two examples found in polar terrain. Central
peak may not form in these zones until signifi-
cantly larger diameters are reached, or it does
form but quickly collapses (Robbins and Hynek
2012). Hydrothermal alteration may have
occurred in several Martian impact craters’ cen-
tral uplift materials and may have produced
phyllosilicate assemblages there due to the heat
released by the impact and the fragmentation that
occurred during the uplift process (Barnhart
et al. 2010).
Icy moons: Transition from simple bowl-
shaped craters to central peak craters occurs at
smaller diameters on the icy satellites than on
rocky bodies of similar gravity (Schenk 1989).
Below crater diameters of 12 km, central peak
craters on Ganymede and simple craters on the
Moon have similar rim heights, indicating com-
parable amounts of rim collapse. This suggests
that the formation of central peaks at smaller
crater diameters on Ganymede than the Moon
(1.9 km on Ganymede compared to 25 km on
the Moon) is dominated by enhanced central floor
uplift rather than rim collapse. Central peak
diameters on Ganymede are typically one-third
of the crater diameter (Bray et al. 2008). On
Callisto, central peak craters range from about
5 to 40 km in diameter (Greeley et al. 2000).
Unlike on the Jovian moons, central peaks on
icy Saturnian satellites often exceed the elevation
of the background terrain and rise above the cra-
ter rim. These unusually high peaks are proposed
to be the products of concentrated floor uplift due
to high central temperatures (Dombard
et al. 2007).
Low gravity (0.2–0.3 m/s
2
) midsize icy satel-
lites and Vesta: see ▶complex crater, low
gravity.
History of Investigation
Central peaks were named centralgebirge (central
mountain) by Schro
¨ter (1791). Beer and M€
adler
Central Peak Crater, Fig. 5 130 km diameter Herschel Crater on the 381 415 km diameter Mimas at 0N, 245E, in
orthographic and perspective views. PIA12739, Cassini (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)
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described “centralberge” as structures that “lie
often exactly in the middle of walled plains,
ring mountains, with no connection to the wall”
(Beer and M€
adler 1837, 129}76). They distin-
guished the following peak classes (Fig. 6):
(1) centralketten ([linear] central chains) (e.g.,
Humboldt) (Beer and M€
adler 1837, 130}77),
(2) centrale massengebirge (central mass moun-
tains: steep, with multiple peaks. When seen at
terminator, they look as lightspots in the dark
areas) (e.g., Theophilus, Petavius), (3) einzelne
centralberge (individual central mountains) (e.g.,
Copernicus, Gassendi), and (4) centrale piks
(central peaks: a single individual, sharp-pointed
peak (e.g., Alphonsus).
Kuiper (1954) noted that “among the most
puzzling lunar phenomena are the central peaks
found in a fraction of the craters. Some writers
have regarded them as volcanoes which depos-
ited the crater walls, thought to consist of ashes;
others, as a rebound action of the soil after the
impact or even as the “stuck” impactor itself.”
Kuiper suggested a rebound origin, during which
“the impact caused local melting or fissures
which tapped a large reservoir of lava farther
down” and concluded that “the central peaks
might consist of extrusive, igneous rock.” In
Kuiper’s model, central peak formation depends
on the presence of a lava reservoir available
before impacts; therefore, central peak could
only be formed in the so-called crust-melting
era, i.e., “shortly before, during, and shortly
after the formation of the maria” but not in the
“pre- and post-melting eras.” “It is not unlikely
that in marginal cases the heat of impact contrib-
uted to the availability of a lava reservoir; but the
relations stated on the presence and absence of
peaks indicate that the impacts were not the prin-
cipal cause of the lava.”
In modern studies, the use of the term
“rebound” is not recommended, as it implies
that elastic forces are the main cause of the uplift.
Although a complete mechanical understanding
of the central peak formation is still lacking,
elastic rebound is known to have a very minor
effect, except perhaps in some special circum-
stances (Melosh and Ivanov 1999). “Uplift” of
the sub-surface material is preferred to
“rebound”.
Central Peak Crater,
Fig. 6 Variations of
central structure
morphology (Beer and
M€
adler 1837). (a) Central
peak chain: Humboldt
(chain length: 100 km,
27.2S 80.9E), (b) central
complex mountain:
Theophilus (complex
diameter: 35 km, 11.4S
26.4E), (c) central
individual peaks:
Copernicus (peak cluster
diameter: 25 km, 9.7N
20.0W), (d) central peak:
Alphonsus (peak diameter:
8 km; 13.4S 2.8W).
LROC WAC mosaics
(NASA/GSFC/ASU)
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The progressive development of central peaks
to peak rings was identified by Hartmann and
Wood (1971) when lunar far side images became
available, which showed different unflooded
basin morphologies (Fig. 7).
For Venus, analysis (Herrick and Sharpton
2000) implied that many central peaks of Venu-
sian impact craters are perhaps unusually high:
they were thought to reach the elevation of the
surrounding terrain and sometimes to surpass it.
For some cases, this may be true, but later studies
have shown that the most prominent feature of
the Venusian central peak elevation data is large
scatter (Herrick and Rumpf 2011). New, higher-
resolution topographic dataset of Venus is
required to fully resolve this question.
Related Terms
Landforms derived from different processes:
▶Central Dome Crater
Central Peak Crater, Fig. 7 Sequence of crater forms
from the appearance to the disappearance of central peak.
Central peaks show progressively more complex and
extended forms with increasing diameters. Generalized
profiles are also shown (Hartmann and Wood 1971). (a)
No central peak (Censorinus, D =4 km, 0.4S 32.7E), (b)
central peak (Lansberg, D =40 km, 0.3S 26.6W), (c)
central peak complex (Bullialdus, D =59 km, 20.7S
22.2W), (d) ringed peak cluster (Gassendi, D =
110 km, 17.5S 39.9W), (e) protobasin (Compton, D =
162 km, 55.3N 103.8E), (f) no central peak, peak ring
(Schro
¨dinger, D =312 km, 75.0S 132.4E). LROC WAC
mosaics (NASA/GSFC/ASU)
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▶Central Mound Crater
Landforms derived from the impact processes
with progressively increasing diameter and rela-
tively larger rings on rocky bodies:
▶Central peak crater (from craters with a single
central peak to craters with ring-like central peak)
(▶ringed peak-cluster basin and ▶protobasin)
peak-ring crater, multiring basin.
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