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The nature of ponded deposits on Eros

Nature volume 413, pages 396–400 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

One of the surprises of the NEAR-Shoemaker mission was that Eros's surface exhibits a wide variety of landforms, which are indicative of a global covering of loose fragmental debris1. At one extreme in roughness is the Shoemaker Regio area, which is characterized by a high density of boulders up to 100 m across, slumps, slides, and finer blanketing material. At the other extreme are distinctive, flat deposits that appear smooth down to a resolution of 1.2 cm per pixel. Here we report the results of global mapping and colour analysis of these smooth deposits. They have formed most efficiently in restricted areas, and appear to be the result of deposition of finer material sorted from the upper portion of the asteroid's regolith. The smooth deposits constitute a family of features with a range of morphologies, but all appear to be the result of sedimentation. The geography of the deposits is consistent with some predicted aspects of photoelectric sorting, but these exotic transport and depositional mechanisms are not well understood. Deposits with the properties seen on Eros have no obvious analogues in previous lunar or asteroid data.

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Figure 1: Views of ponded deposits.
Figure 2: Map of pond distributions and gravity on Eros.
Figure 3: Colour properties of ponded deposits.
Figure 4: Relative amount of time an area receives illumination between 85° and 90° incidence angle.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the mission design, mission operations, and spacecraft teams of the NEAR Project at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University and the navigation team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for their efforts that resulted in making NEAR Shoemaker the first spacecraft to orbit and land on an asteroid. The NEAR-Shoemaker mission and this work were made possible by NASA. We thank A. Rivkin and M. Cintala for suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, Northwestern University, 1847 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    M. S. Robinson

  2. 310 Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853, New York, USA

    P. C. Thomas, J. Veverka & B. Carcich

  3. Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, 20723, Maryland, USA

    S. Murchie

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Correspondence to M. S. Robinson.

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Robinson, M., Thomas, P., Veverka, J. et al. The nature of ponded deposits on Eros. Nature 413, 396–400 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35096518

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