June 5, 2022
Sliced
Originally published July 13, 2012
image by Michael Wirths, Baja California, Mexico
At the southern end of the Caucasus Mountains is a large mass of relatively coherent material. Immediately to the north and south the mountains are fragmentary, something seems to have reduced any previous mass to rubble. The northern edge of this remaining mass is sheared off like a knifecut through warm butter. There is a kink along that northern face, but the knife make a second, cleaner slice about 10-12 km inland. Presumably these are both faults that sliced through the mountain. Perhaps the rubble to the north is material that was sliced off and collapsed from the first cut. The second cut did not result in collapse so it remains as just a slice. If extended, these fault lines would pass through the northern side of Mare Imbrium - or in the opposite direction - through northern Serentiatis. So the faults might be associated with formation of either of these basins but the lack of radiality makes the evidence from just these faults uncompelling. But this is just one - or two - of the many linear cuts through the Apennines and the Caucasus rim of the Imbrium Basin. Since most of the cuts/faults are roughtly radial to Imbrium, presumably they are all basin related.
Chuck Wood
Technical Details
June 27, 2012. Starmaster 18" (Zambuto optics) Televue 2.5X's barlow, True tech R/IR filter, Lumenera 2-2M camera, processed with Avistack2 and PS, Focusmagic
Related Links
Rükl plate 13
Mike's Baja Dark Skies Inn website
Yesterday's LPOD: From Sea To Shining See
Tomorrow's LPOD: Northern Exposure
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