File:A Colorful Look at the Birt E Crater on the Moon (14677604185).png

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This false color image of Birt E crater shows the topography of the Moon and it is thought to be the source region for lava that carved out Rima Birt, a rille in Mare Nubium. This mare is older than 3.4 billion years, and so is this vent!

LROC NAC M1144849711L/R with the a color DTM overlaid; North is up.

Download high res: <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/794" rel="nofollow">lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/794</a>

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

More info: Birt E crater was not created like most craters on the Moon; there was no meteorite impact. Lava sputtered out of this pyroclastic vent in Mare Nubium over 3.4 billion years ago, dispersing lava onto the surface and leaving the crater we see today. How can we tell it is a volcanic vent and not an impact crater? Impact craters and volcanic vents can be differentiated because vents often have an irregular or elongated shape (as with Birt E). Impact craters are usually circular in shape, created by the shockwave during an impact event.

Also, the vee-shape of this crater is likely a product of the formation mechanism. Vee-shaped vents are thought to be formed from a pyroclastic eruption. Gasses fractionating out of the liquid rock create violent events during eruptions. Explosive eruptions created the shape that we see today, but Birt E could have had a complex history with effusive eruptions forming Rima Birt, a rille flowing from Birt E to the SE.

Over long enough time scales Birt E will be filled in with ejecta from newly formed craters around Mare Nubium or by mass wasting of the walls into the crater. Let’s enjoy this ancient crater today while we still can!

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Date
Source A Colorful Look at the Birt E Crater on the Moon
Author NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA
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This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by NASA Goddard Photo and Video at https://flickr.com/photos/24662369@N07/14677604185 (archive). It was reviewed on 12 May 2018 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

12 May 2018


Public domain This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
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current02:13, 12 May 2018Thumbnail for version as of 02:13, 12 May 2018952 × 952 (1.56 MB)OceanAtoll (talk | contribs)Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons

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