Argyre Planitia is a plain located within the impact basin Argyre in the southern highlands of Mars. Its name comes from a map produced by Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877; it refers to Argyre, a mythical island of silver in Greek mythology.
The southern rim of Argyre basin, formed by the Charitum Montes. Adjacent are sinuous ridges, theorized to be glacial eskers. The crater Galle is seen in the background.
Gullies south of Argyre appear to be unequivocal evidence of water erosion.
Scene in Argyre quadrangle with gullies, alluvival fans, and hollows, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Enlargements of parts of this image are below.
Enlargement of above image showing hollows with box showing the size of a football field, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program.
An impact crater is a depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. Impact craters are typically circular, though they can be elliptical in shape or even irregular due to events such as landslides. Impact craters range in size from microscopic craters seen on lunar rocks returned by the Apollo Program to simple bowl-shaped depressions and vast, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.
500-kilometre-wide (310 mi) crater Engelier on Saturn's moon Iapetus
Recently formed (between July 2010 and May 2012) impact crater on Mars showing a pristine ray system of ejecta
50,000-year-old Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S. on Earth
Eugene Shoemaker, pioneer impact crater researcher, here at a crystallographic microscope used to examine meteorites