NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Super Position

This NAC image features a crater superimposed on a larger crater. Based on the law of superposition, it is apparent that the crater with the central peak is younger than the larger crater because it has destroyed part of the rim of the larger crater. Based on the same principle we can conclude that the scarp is also younger than the larger crater; the scarp cuts across the rim and floor of the larger crater meaning that the larger crater came before the scarp. More analysis would be needed to determine the relative age relationship between the central-peak crater and the scarp. Does the scarp modify the central-peak crater's ejecta, or does the ejecta cover the scarp?

Date acquired: May 26, 2012

Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington