Originally posted by JPhish
there's something inside of that crater, and it appears to be taller than the crater is deep.
Very impressive collection. Some of these are very interesting.
[edit on 9/22/2009 by JPhish]
The centers of craters often have mountains that were "uplifted" due to the rebound of the soil immediately after the impact that created the
crater. The central uplifted peaks of these craters
can be as high, and higher, that the crater walls (see Herschel Crater on Saturn's Moon
Mimas).
Here's an article describing central peak uplift of complex craters:
www.lpi.usra.edu...
Here is a slow-motion video of a water droplet that illustrates how the center of the crater can "rebound", creating uplifted mountain peaks (such
the water rebounding after the drop hits the surface):
The water in the video goes back to "level" because it remains a fluid after the impact. However, in the case of a crater, the energy of the impact
causes the soil to originally act as a fluid, but it quickly changes back to acting like a solid, thus the uplifted central mountain remains.
...as for the picture you posted:
The sunlight is coming from the upper right corner of the picture (look at the shadows cast buy the rims of the smaller craters -- the shadows are all
in the "2 o'clock" position of the crater (in the "7 o'clock" position relative to the crater wall casting the shadow.
That means that the big shadow you see to the right of the mountain in that large crater is actually being cast by the crater wall to the right of the
mountain -- and not the mountain itself. any shadow cast by the structure in the center of the crater would be cast toward the "7 o'clock"
position of the structure. The fact that the geological structure in the center casts no shadow makes me think it isn't very high at all.
[edit on 9/22/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]
