Chaos ( lat. Chaos [1] ) - a concept used in planetary geology to describe areas on the surface of celestial bodies , having a chaotic relief. Such areas are composed of a random combination of ridges, cracks, plateaus, and other types of structures. The term "chaos" ( lat. Chaos ) is used in the official planetary nomenclature . They are discovered on Mars and Europe .
Many assumptions have been made about what forces could have generated such chaotic reliefs, but the exact causes of the chaos have not yet been established.
On Mars, 26 chaos is noted. The largest of these is the Chaos of Aurora ( lat. Aurorae Chaos ) has a diameter of 714 km [2] .
On Mars, chaos is composed of huge polygonal plateaus, separated by randomly intersecting canyons. Probably, their formation is associated with the release of huge volumes of water from below the surface [3] . This is indicated by the fact that many of the channels along which the Martian rivers apparently flowed originate in areas of chaos. The reason for such a powerful discharge of water could be a meteorite impact, [4] magma movement, [5] seismic activity [6], or tectonic activity [7] . It is also possible that water deposits were released from hydrates along with carbon dioxide [8] . It is assumed that some not completely destroyed parts of chaos can still contain water.
List of Chaos
This is a list of chaos officially named by the International Astronomical Union .
| Russian name | Latin name | Picture | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter (km) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chaos Aram [9] | Aram chaos | 2.57 N | 338.5 E | 277.0 | Blocks in the chaos of Aram, under which there may be sources of water. | |
| Chaos Aromas [1] | Aromatum chaos | 1.09 S | 317.0 E | 91.5 | ||
| Arsinoes chaos | 7.61 S | 332.0 E | 230.0 | |||
| Atlantis Chaos | 34.4 S | 182.4 E | 162.0 | Chaos Atlantis , view from HiRISE. Click to see the mantle and possible gutters. Two images - different parts of the original image with different scales. | ||
| chaos Golden horn [1] | Aureum chaos | 4.35 S | 333.0 E | 368.0 | Part of the area called chaos Aram. Click to see more details. | |
| Aurorae chaos | 8.9 S | 324.7 E | 750.0 | |||
| Baetis chaos | 0.24 S | 299.47 E | 55.0 | |||
| Candle chaos | 6.92 S | 287.4 E | 97.0 | |||
| Chryse chaos | 10.29 N | 323.3 E | 735.0 | |||
| Echus chaos | 10.78 N | 285.2 E | 473.0 | |||
| Eos chaos | 16.62 S | 313.1 E | 490.0 | Image from the Oxia Palus area (Oxia Palus quadrangle). | ||
| Rythraeum chaos | 21.86 S | 347.62 E | 149.0 | |||
| Galaxias chaos | 33.8 N | 146.4 E | 234.0 | |||
| Ganges chaos | 9.64 S | 313.8 E | 120.0 | |||
| Gorgonum chaos | 37.19 S | 189.1 E | 149.0 | Image of chaos Gorgonum from the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter HiRISE station. Width - 4 km. Image from the Phaethontis (Phaethontis quadrangle) area. | ||
| Hellas chaos | 47.48 S | 64.0 E | 595.0 | |||
| Gidasp chaos [1] | Hydaspis chaos | 3.16 N | 332.9 E | 355.0 | Image from the Oxia Palus area (Oxia Palus quadrangle). | |
| chaos Hydraot [1] | Hydraotes chaos | 0.79 N | 324.6 E | 417.5 | Click to see channels and layers. Image from the Oxia Palus area (Oxia Palus quadrangle). | |
| Iamuna chaos | 0.2 s | 319.3 E | 18.0 | |||
| chaos of Janus [1] | Iani chaos | 2.77 S | 342.5 E | 434.0 | Sand from the destroyed mesastructures is covered with brighter material. Click to see Ayani's chaos connection with other local features. Image from Margaritifer Sinus (Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle). | |
| Ster chaos | 12.86 N | 303.6 E | 103.4 | Image from the Lunae Palus (Lunae Palus quadrangle) area. | ||
| Pearl Chaos [1] | Margaritifer chaos | 8.6 S | 338.4 E | 390.0 | ||
| Nilus chaos | 25.35 N | 282.8 E | 283.0 | |||
| Oxia chaos | 0.2 N | 320.1 E | 26.5 | |||
| Pyrrhae chaos | 10.38 S | 331.5 E | 189.0 | |||
| Xanthe chaos | 11.74 N | 317.75 E | 34.0 |
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Burba G.A. The nomenclature of the relief of Mars. - M .: Nauka , 1981 .-- 85 p. - 1000 copies. page 26
- ↑ IAU . Aurorae Chaos (English) . Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature . Date of treatment January 3, 2012. Archived on September 7, 2012.
- ↑ Neil M. Coleman. Martian megaflood-triggered chaos formation, revealing groundwater depth, cryosphere thickness, and crustal heat flux (English) // Journal of geophysical research. - 2005. - Vol. 110 . - P. 19 . - DOI : 10.1029 / 2005JE002419 .
- ↑ G. Pedersen, J. Head. Chaos formation by sublimation of volatile-rich substrate: evidence from Galaxias Chaos, Mars (English) // Icarus . - 2011 .-- Vol. 211 . - P. 316–329 . - DOI : 10.1016 / j.icarus.2010.09.09.005 .
- ↑ M. Chapman, K. Tanaka. Related magma-ice interactions: Possible origins of Chasma chaos and surface materials in Xanthe, Margaritifer, and Merdiani Terrae, Mars (English) // Icarus . - 2002. - Vol. 155 , no. 2 . - P. 324–339 . - DOI : 10.1006 / icar.2001.6735 .
- ↑ K. Tanaka. Debris-flow origin for Simud / Tiu deposits on Mars (Eng.) // J. Geophys. Res .. - 1999. - Vol. 104 . - P. 8637-8652 . - DOI : 10.1029 / 98JE02552 .
- ↑ N. Cabrol. A model of outflow generation by hydrothermal underpressure drainage in volcano-tectonic environment. Shalbatana Vallis (Mars) (English) // Icarus. - 1997. - Vol. 125 . - P. 455-464 . - DOI : 10.1006 / icar.1996.5625 .
- ↑ DJ Milton. Carbon dioxide hydrate and floods on Mars (Eng.) // Science. - 1974. - Vol. 183 , no. 4125 . - P. 654–656 . - DOI : 10.1126 / science.183.4125.654 .
- ↑ Burba G.A. The nomenclature of the relief of Mars. - M .: Nauka , 1981 .-- 85 p. - 1000 copies.
Literature
- List of Chaos , // Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, compiled by the US Geological Survey .