Preliminary Geological Map of the Ac-H-13 Urvara Quadrangle of Ceres: An Integrated Mapping Study Using Dawn Spacecraft Data

Abstract:

We used geologic mapping applied to Dawn spacecraft data as a tool to understand the geologic history of the Ac-H-13 Urvara Quadrangle of dwarf planet Ceres. This region, located between 21˚S-66˚S and 180-270˚E, is dominated by the Urvara basin in the east and cratered plains in the west. The elevation of the cratered plains is intermediate between the identified “highland” and “lowland” units of Ceres. Plains in the SW corner of the quadrangle are hummocky and heavily cratered, while the NW corner is smoother and less densely cratered. Features of note include 1) the 200 km diameter Urvara basin, which includes a degraded northern rim and smooth interior and exterior material that hosts a significantly lower impact crater density than most of the rest of Ceres’ surface; 2) semi-radial curvilinear structures extending to the east and west of Urvara; 3) two large-scale dome structures 10s of km in diameter exterior to Urvara; and 4) numerous small-scale domical structures (<12 km diameter) associated with the smooth material interior to the basin. Key goals of the ongoing mapping are to assess the types of resurfacing processes that might be responsible for producing the smooth units, and to assess the processes responsible for the development of large and small dome structures.

At the time of this writing geologic mapping was performed on Framing Camera (FC) mosaics from the Approach (1.3 km/px) and Survey (415 m/px) orbits, including clear filter and color images and digital terrain models derived from stereo images. In Fall 2015 images from the High Altitude Mapping Orbit (140 m/px) will be used to refine the mapping, followed by Low Altitude Mapping Orbit (35 m/px) images starting in December 2015.

Support of the Dawn Instrument, Operations, and Science Teams is acknowledged. This work is supported by grants from NASA, the Max Planck Society and from the German and Italian Space Agencies.