Lipik (crater)

Lipik Crater is a crater in the Hellas quadrangle of Mars, located at 38.42° S and 248.43° W. It is 56 km in diameter and was named after a town in Croatia.^[1] Close-up pictures of the crater show glacial features. The crater is not very deep, so much ice and dust may have accumulated over the years. If one measures the diameter of a crater, the original depth can be estimated with various ratios. Because of this relationship, researchers have found that many Martian craters contain a great deal of material; much of it is believed to be ice deposited when the climate was different. ^[2]

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  Western side of Lipik Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Arrow points to a tongue-shaped glacier that is enlarged in next image.
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  Tongue-shaped glacier in Lipik Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Note: this is an enlargement of previous image.
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  Lipik Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).
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  Enlargement of northern wall of Lipik, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Many tongue-shaped glaciers are visible. Note: this is an enlargement of the previous image.

Why are Craters important?

The density of impact craters is used to determine the surface ages of Mars and other solar system bodies. ^[3] The older the surface, the more craters present. Crater shapes can reveal the presence of ground ice.

References

See also

• Planetary nomenclature
• Impact crater
• List of craters on Mars
• Water on Mars
• Climate of Mars
• Glacier
• Glaciers on Mars