Concepción, The freshest crater yet to be explored Options

[NW71]

It's a good question charborob. If you don't mind, I'm going to have a guess before the experts put me right!

(Speculation mode on!)

Firstly, could it be that the impact site is on different ground/bedrock to the other craters you mentioned? Or that the meteorite that struck had a different mineral content?

Secondly, I wonder if the size of impact makes a difference? I am a newbie here so please correct me but I seem to think that Opportunity has passed other similar sized craters with similar rocks strewn around on its recent travels?

Thirdly, I presume erosion does occur on mars and thus if this is a very young crater trying to age it would be of some use to us. I'm unsure if any guesses at the age of victoria and endeavour have been made. (Statto mode on) but if Concepcion is 1,000 years old and those rocks have each lost say 10 cubic centimetre (and that is not a lot) of material then a crater which is 1 million years old will have lost 10,000 cubic centimetres, a crater 1 billion years old will have seen each rock lose 10,000,000 cubic centimetres (10 cubic metres) (Statto mode off)

This is why Concepcion's age could matter. If it is 100 years old or 10,000 years old those figures above change dramatically!

Marquette Island would be different to this as I seem to recall it is a very hard material and hence less likely to erode at a similar rate.

Personally, I suspect a mixture of points 2 and 3.

I must stress I have very little evidence (other than that stated above) to support these views but I just wished to see if I'm beginning to think along the right tracks. I look forward to the class acts on this forum putting me right!

(Speculation mode off)

Neil

[Phil Stooke]

Yes, I believe crumbled to sand. They are rather weakly cemented sandstones, and ultimately that's what happens to them. Compare with Bonneville crater at Spirit's landing site, probably at least a billion years old and still surrounded by lots of rocky ejecta, but it's basalt.

My opinion of this location: the rocks hold no interest as we've seen it all before. The interest is in the geomorphology of the crater, for comparison with older craters along the route like Alvin and Viking. That can be taken care of with stereo imaging from 2 or 3 points around it, and then it's time to move on.

Phil

[Stu]

Some more 3D images in my blog post here http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2010/...ncepcion-crater if anyone wants a look...

[ustrax]

Here's a new toy for Stu...
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...00P2551R1M1.JPG

[Stu]

Thanks for reminding me! I saw that this morning but real life got in the way... Interesting chunka rock, for sure...

[ustrax]

Does it have a name?! Does it have a name?!

[Guest_Oersted_*]

When I look at Concepción I can almost hear the BANG! when it was created. This crater is fresh!

ADMIN EDIT

[Marz]

When I look at Concepción I can almost hear the BANG! when it was created. This crater is fresh!

KABLAM! It's so fascinating to see the rays of rocky debris spreading out from the crater. Any luck these rays would be sorted by depth, with top layers being more fragmented and spread further than the deeper layers, or is crater formation much more chaotic?

[Tesheiner]

Does it have a name?! Does it have a name?!

Actually, it has.

02138::p2551::24::6::0::0::6::2::14::pancam_Ubay_L257R167

And another one, imaged on sol 2136, is named "Anda".
Now, Rui, it's your turn to find what do they mean.

[centsworth_II]

Is Concepción (bottom) really very different from Fram (top)? The pictures are not to the same scale, but both craters look to be in the same size and age ballpark. (Note Endurance crater behind Fram's right side.)

Here's the old UMSF Fram thread.

[volcanopele]

It is a little different. The main ripples of the Meridiani plains are overlapping the rim at Fram, so that you have dunes lying at the top of the crater wall. You can also see ripples on the crater floor at Fram. At Concepción, the inner ejecta field lies on top of the dunes and I don't see any small ripples inside the crater.

That's just combining what I see with what was said on Emily's blog regarding the order of magnitude age estimate.

[Tesheiner]

OT:

Here's the old UMSF Fram thread.

Ah! It was a good read and a nice time to remember the old days when we though Endurance was almost beyond the limits...
This is from the above thread:

I imagine this is posing quite a dilemma for the folks at NASA. With the rover having a limited lifespan, how long do you tarry here when Endurance crater is clearly the bigger prize.

[avkillick]

Ubay and Anda are districts in Bohol province in the Philippines

[nprev]

Right, forgot that the Phillippines were going to be the theme for Concepcion, thanks!

Very apropros; the archipelago has something like 7000 islands, IIRC.

[Joffan]

For the old-school among us, here's a cross-eyed stereogram of Concepcion... it is indeed a pretty spot - will we rove to the rim?