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    Overview of Rampart or Martian Splosh Craters

    Number of Pages: 5

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    In five pages this paper examines how the planet Mars' shape has been affected by Martian splosh or rampart craters. Four sources are cited in the bibliography.

    Name of Research Paper File: LM1_TLCsplsh.rtf

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    Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
    because the way in which they form has had a direct impact upon the shape of Mars as it exists today. The process of creating craters is as simple as  having a meteorite crash into the planets surface, leaving behind deep indentations; the erosion factor, however, of wind, water, weather, tectonic forces and volcanic activity has been responsible for virtually  erasing any evidence that a crater has existed. Martian craters, on the other hand, are highly protected from these elements due to the very limited amount of harsh weather  and geologic activity (Anonymous, no date), but that does not necessarily mean that erosion is not a problem for some of the older splosh craters that have all but disappeared  because of environmental decay. Hellas Basin is considered to be one of the largest of all Martian splosh craters at almost two thousand km from one side to the other.  Typically, flow-like patterns envelope splosh craters, creating an entirely different appearance to craters found on Mercury and the Moon. On Mars, splosh craters are formed by a surface  of mud, which clearly indicates how ground water, ice and some sort of impact are necessary to pattern the unusual indentations. Another theory on how Martian splosh craters are  formed follows example from atmospheric ejecta interactions. Scientific research has discovered that craters no larger than five kilometers are not surrounded by fluidized ejecta, a fact that has experts  speculating the reason to be because "the impactors did not reach deep enough to tap the liquid water" (Anonymous, no date). Craters five kilometers or larger, however, have the  capacity to eject matter from as deep as one thousand meters, a clear indication that Mars may have held water just a few hundred meters beneath is surface of that 

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