Glinka (crater)

Glinka
	Photo from MESSENGER's first flyby in January 2008 with Glinka at bottom center
Planet	Mercury
Coordinates	14°50′N 112°33′W / 14.83°N 112.55°W / 14.83; -112.55
Quadrangle	Beethoven
Diameter	89 km (55 mi)
Eponym	Mikhail Glinka

Glinka is a pit-floored crater on Mercury, which was discovered in 1974 by Mariner 10 spacecraft.^[1] It was named by the IAU in 2008, after Russian composer Mikhail Glinka.^[2]

Its floor is covered by the smooth plain material and displays a kidney-shaped collapse feature, which is also called a central pit. The size of the pit, which was first noticed in MESSENGER images obtained in January 2008, is 20 × 8.5 km.^[1] It is surrounded by a bright pyroclastic deposit. Such a feature may have resulted from collapse of a magma chamber underlying the central part of the crater. The collapse feature is an analog of Earth's volcanic calderas.^[1]

Glinka crater
Closeup of the central pit

References

^ a b c Gillis-Davis, Jeffrey J.; Blewett, David T.; Gaskell, Robert W.; Denevi, Brett W.; Robinson, Mark S.; Strom, Robert G.; Solomon, Sean C.; Sprague, Ann L. (2009). "Pit-floor craters on Mercury: Evidence of near-surface igneous activity". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 285 (3–4): 243–250. Bibcode:2009E&PSL.285..243G. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.05.023.
^ "Glinka". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. IAU/NASA/USGS. Retrieved 25 September 2022.

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[Gillis-Davis2009-1] Gillis-Davis, Jeffrey J.; Blewett, David T.; Gaskell, Robert W.; Denevi, Brett W.; Robinson, Mark S.; Strom, Robert G.; Solomon, Sean C.; Sprague, Ann L. (2009). "Pit-floor craters on Mercury: Evidence of near-surface igneous activity". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 285 (3–4): 243–250. Bibcode:2009E&PSL.285..243G. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.05.023.

[2] "Glinka". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. IAU/NASA/USGS. Retrieved 25 September 2022.