Geological history of a Floor-Fractured Crater in Gorgonum Chaos, Terra Sirenum, Mars

Kurzfassung

Floor-Fractured Craters (FFCs) are a class of impact craters characterized by fractured and hummocky crater floors, often displaying features such as concentric or radial fractures, mesas, tilted blocks, and irregular topographies. These morphologies suggest post-impact modification processes that have been extensively studied across the Solar System. On Mars, the origin of FFCs is still debated, with several hypotheses proposed, including intrusive magmatism and associated doming, tectonic deformation, glacial or periglacial activity, and the migration or discharge of pressurized groundwater [1–4]. This study presents preliminary results from a detailed geological and geomorphological analysis of a small (~18 km diameter) floor-fractured crater located in the Noachian-aged terrain of Terra Sirenum (37°S, 190°E), within the broader Gorgonium Chaos basin (~240 km wide [5]). The study aims to investigate the origin of the fractures and the geological evolution of the crater, and to assess the potential roles of tectonic, magmatic, and periglacial processes [6] in shaping its morphology.