Ring-mold craters on Ceres: Evidence for shallow subsurface water ice sources

Abstract

One of the main tasks of the Dawn mission is to characterize the potentially ice‐rich crust of the dwarf planet Ceres. Ongoing studies reveal morphological features related to ice‐rich material such as pits or particular landslides. Here we report the identification of ring‐mold craters within the huge impact crater Occator. The Cerean ring‐mold craters exhibit strong morphological similarities to the ring‐mold craters on Mars, where ice‐rich material is thought to be involved in such crater development. We discuss the occurrence of water ice reservoirs in the subsurface and assume that ice‐rich material likely plays an important role in the development of ring‐mold craters on Ceres. The occurrence of ring‐mold craters on the surface of Ceres is not only a sign of water ice reservoirs in the subsurface but can also be used for the study of habitable zones on planetary bodies.