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Nathues A, Hoffmann M, Schmedemann N, Sarkar R, Thangjam G, Mengel K, Hernandez J, Hiesinger H, Pasckert JH. Brine residues and organics in the Urvara basin on Ceres. Nat Commun 2022; 13:927. [PMID: 35194036 PMCID: PMC8863799 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28570-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Ceres is a partially differentiated dwarf planet, as confirmed by NASA's Dawn mission. The Urvara basin (diameter ~170 km) is its third-largest impact feature, enabling insights into the cerean crust. Urvara's geology and mineralogy suggest a potential brine layer at the crust-mantle transition. Here we report new findings that help in understanding the structure and composition of the cerean crust. These results were derived by using the highest-resolution Framing Camera images acquired by Dawn at Ceres. Unexpectedly, we found meter-scale concentrated exposures of bright material (salts) along the crater's upper central ridge, which originate from an enormous depth, possibly from a deep-seated brine or salt reservoir. An extended resurfacing modified the southern floor ~100 Myr after crater formation (~250 Myr), long after the dissipation of the impact-generated heat. In this resurfaced area, one floor scarp shows a granular flow pattern of bright material, showing spectra consistent with the presence of organic material, the first such finding on Ceres beyond the vast Ernutet area. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that Ceres is and has been a geologically active world even in recent epochs, with salts and organic-rich material playing a major role in its evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Nathues
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077, Goettingen, Germany.
| | - M Hoffmann
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - N Schmedemann
- Institut für Planetologie, WWU Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - R Sarkar
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - G Thangjam
- School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, NISER, HBNI, Bhubaneswar, India
| | - K Mengel
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - J Hernandez
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - H Hiesinger
- Institut für Planetologie, WWU Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - J H Pasckert
- Institut für Planetologie, WWU Münster, Münster, Germany
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Scully JEC, Schenk PM, Castillo-Rogez JC, Buczkowski DL, Williams DA, Pasckert JH, Duarte KD, Romero VN, Quick LC, Sori MM, Landis ME, Raymond CA, Neesemann A, Schmidt BE, Sizemore HG, Russell CT. The varied sources of faculae-forming brines in Ceres' Occator crater emplaced via hydrothermal brine effusion. Nat Commun 2020; 11:3680. [PMID: 32778642 PMCID: PMC7417532 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15973-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Before acquiring highest-resolution data of Ceres, questions remained about the emplacement mechanism and source of Occator crater's bright faculae. Here we report that brine effusion emplaced the faculae in a brine-limited, impact-induced hydrothermal system. Impact-derived fracturing enabled brines to reach the surface. The central faculae, Cerealia and Pasola Facula, postdate the central pit, and were primarily sourced from an impact-induced melt chamber, with some contribution from a deeper, pre-existing brine reservoir. Vinalia Faculae, in the crater floor, were sourced from the laterally extensive deep reservoir only. Vinalia Faculae are comparatively thinner and display greater ballistic emplacement than the central faculae because the deep reservoir brines took a longer path to the surface and contained more gas than the shallower impact-induced melt chamber brines. Impact-derived fractures providing conduits, and mixing of impact-induced melt with deeper endogenic brines, could also allow oceanic material to reach the surfaces of other large icy bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E C Scully
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
| | - P M Schenk
- Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, USA
| | - J C Castillo-Rogez
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - D L Buczkowski
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA
| | - D A Williams
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - J H Pasckert
- Institute für Planetologie, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - K D Duarte
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - V N Romero
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - L C Quick
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - M M Sori
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - M E Landis
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - C A Raymond
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - A Neesemann
- Free University of Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - B E Schmidt
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - C T Russell
- University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Hiesinger H, Marchi S, Schmedemann N, Schenk P, Pasckert JH, Neesemann A, O'Brien DP, Kneissl T, Ermakov AI, Fu RR, Bland MT, Nathues A, Platz T, Williams DA, Jaumann R, Castillo-Rogez JC, Ruesch O, Schmidt B, Park RS, Preusker F, Buczkowski DL, Russell CT, Raymond CA. Cratering on Ceres: Implications for its crust and evolution. Science 2016; 353:353/6303/aaf4759. [PMID: 27701089 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2016] [Accepted: 07/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Thermochemical models have predicted that Ceres, is to some extent, differentiated and should have an icy crust with few or no impact craters. We present observations by the Dawn spacecraft that reveal a heavily cratered surface, a heterogeneous crater distribution, and an apparent absence of large craters. The morphology of some impact craters is consistent with ice in the subsurface, which might have favored relaxation, yet large unrelaxed craters are also present. Numerous craters exhibit polygonal shapes, terraces, flowlike features, slumping, smooth deposits, and bright spots. Crater morphology and simple-to-complex crater transition diameters indicate that the crust of Ceres is neither purely icy nor rocky. By dating a smooth region associated with the Kerwan crater, we determined absolute model ages (AMAs) of 550 million and 720 million years, depending on the applied chronology model.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Hiesinger
- Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany.
| | - S Marchi
- Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
| | - N Schmedemann
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - P Schenk
- Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - J H Pasckert
- Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
| | - A Neesemann
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - D P O'Brien
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
| | - T Kneissl
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - A I Ermakov
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - R R Fu
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - M T Bland
- U.S. Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
| | - A Nathues
- Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
| | - T Platz
- Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
| | | | - R Jaumann
- German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Germany. Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - J C Castillo-Rogez
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - O Ruesch
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - B Schmidt
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - R S Park
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - F Preusker
- German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Germany
| | - D L Buczkowski
- John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA
| | - C T Russell
- Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - C A Raymond
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
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Ruesch O, Platz T, Schenk P, McFadden LA, Castillo-Rogez JC, Quick LC, Byrne S, Preusker F, O’Brien DP, Schmedemann N, Williams DA, Li JY, Bland MT, Hiesinger H, Kneissl T, Neesemann A, Schaefer M, Pasckert JH, Schmidt BE, Buczkowski DL, Sykes MV, Nathues A, Roatsch T, Hoffmann M, Raymond CA, Russell CT. Cryovolcanism on Ceres. Science 2016; 353:353/6303/aaf4286. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2016] [Accepted: 07/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Hiesinger H, van der Bogert CH, Pasckert JH, Funcke L, Giacomini L, Ostrach LR, Robinson MS. How old are young lunar craters? ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1029/2011je003935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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