Patera (planetary nomenclature)

Patera /ˈpætərə/[1] (plural: paterae /ˈpætəriː/)[1] is an irregular crater, or a complex crater with scalloped edges on a celestial body. Paterae can have any origin (volcanic, impact or other), although majority of them were created by volcanism.[2][3][4] The term comes from Latin language, where it refers to a shallow bowl used in antique culture.[5][6]

Tupan Patera on Io

Orcus Patera on Mars

Sachs Patera on Venus

This term is used in planetary nomenclature: it is a part of the international names of such features. In such names, it is capitalized and stands after the proper given name (e.g., Pillan Patera). Besides that, it can be used as a description term and applied even to unnamed features.[7][8]

Nature of paterae

The term "patera", like other terms of planetary nomenclature,[9][10][11] describes only the external view of the feature, but not its origin or geological structure. Majority of paterae of Venus, Mars and Io are volcanic craters or calderas,[4][2][12] but some others (like Orcus Patera on Mars[2][13][14]), probably, are impact craters. At least some of paterae on Triton[15] and the only (as for 2016) named patera of Titan, Sotra Patera,[16] most probably, have cryovolcanic origin.[17] Some authors include low depth in defining criteria of paterae.[18][19][4][17] There is no clear boundary between paterae and usual craters.[18]

Peculiarities of usage of the term

According to some authors, actual usage of the term "patera" had deviated from its definition,[4] and it became not only nomenclatural, but to some extent geological, being used to indicate volcanic origin of the feature.[11][20][4] After Venusian Cleopatra Patera turned out to be an impact crater (instead of a volcanic one, as previously suggested), it was renamed into crater Cleopatra.[21][22][4]

Usually volcanic crater gets a proper name if the volcano itself is low and inconspicuous. Otherwise the volcanic mountain is named, and the crater remains unnamed.[11][4] In some cases, names of Martian volcanic craters with the term "patera" were previously applied to the whole volcano, and it was reflected in values of their sizes given in IAU nomenclatural database. But in 2007, these names were tied to the craters themselves, and the corresponding volcanic mountains obtained names with the terms "Mons" or "Tholus".[23][24][25] An example of such mountains is Alba Mons, which obtained its name 34 years after its crater Alba Patera.[26]

The geological term "highland patera" (a kind of low Martian volcanoes with radially channeled flanks), unlike the nomenclatural term "patera", refers to the whole volcano.[23][24]

Names of paterae

The term "patera" (together with 12 other nomenclatural terms) was introduced into planetary nomenclature in 1973, on XV General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, when 9 Martian paterae, imaged by Mariner 9 in 1972-1973, were named.[27][28][29]

As of August 2016, 249 paterae or their assemblages are named: 144 on Io, 73 on Venus, 20 on Mars, 6 on Ganymede, 5 on Triton and 1 on Titan.[29] They are named differently on different celestial bodies:[30]

• on Venus – after famous women;
• on Mars – after a nearby albedo feature on classical maps by Giovanni Schiaparelli or Eugène Antoniadi;
• on Io – after gods or heroes associated with fire, sun, thunder, volcanoes; after mythical blacksmiths; after associated eruptive centers;
• on Ganymede – after wadis of the Fertile Crescent;
• on Titan – after deities of happiness, peace and harmony of various peoples. But actually the only named patera of Titan is named after Norwegian island Sotra, inherited from cancelled name of associated bright spot Sotra Facula;[31]
• on Triton – with water-associated names, excluding Greek and Roman.

References

1. "patera". Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
2. Tanaka K. L.; Scott D. H.; Greeley R. (1992). "Global stratigraphy". In H. H. Kieffer; B. M. Jakosky; C. W. Snyder; M. S. Matthews (eds.). Mars. University of Arizona Press. pp. 367. ISBN 9780816512577.
3. Шингарева К. Б. (2009). "Как дают названия деталям на картах планет". In В. Г. Сурдин (ed.). Путешествия к Луне [Journeys to the Moon] (in Russian). Москва: Физматлит. p. 186. ISBN 978-5-9221-1105-8.
4. Head J. W.; Crumpler L. S.; Aubele J. C.; Guest J. E.; Saunders R. S. (August 1992). "Venus volcanism: Classification of volcanic features and structures, associations, and global distribution from Magellan data". Journal of Geophysical Research. 97 (E8): 13153–13197. Bibcode:1992JGR....9713153H. doi:10.1029/92JE01273. ISSN 0148-0227. It is probable that the term "patera" has evolved in usage from that as originally defined and has come to mean any feature similar to Alba Patera on Mars (a broad low shield volcano with an irregular-shaped summit caldera and throughgoing graben).
5. Angelo J. A. (2009). Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy. Infobase Publishing. p. 348. ISBN 9781438110189.
6. Loth C. (2010-10-05). "Classical comments: the patera". Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. Archived from the original on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
7. Davies A. G. (2007). "Ch. 16. Volcanic plumes". Volcanism on Io. Cambridge University Press. p. 260. ISBN 9780521850032.
8. Williams D. A.; Keszthelyi L. P.; Crown D. A.; Jaeger W. L.; Schenk P. M. (January 2007). "Geologic mapping of the Amirani–Gish Bar region of Io: Implications for the global geologic mapping of Io" (PDF). Icarus. 186 (1): 204–217. Bibcode:2007Icar..186..204W. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.08.023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-07.
9. "Descriptor Terms (Feature Types)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Archived from the original on 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
10. Бурба Г. А. (1986). К. П. Флоренский; Ю. И. Ефремов (eds.). Номенклатура деталей рельефа спутников Сатурна [Nomenclature of surface features of satellites of Saturn] (in Russian). Москва: Наука. pp. 24–25.
11. Hargitai H. I. (2006). "Planetary Maps: Visualization and Nomenclature" (PDF). Cartographica. 41 (2): 149–164. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.476.5554. doi:10.3138/9862-21JU-4021-72M3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-07.
12. Davies A. G. (2007). "Ch. 18. Volcanism on Io: a post-Galileo view". Volcanism on Io. Cambridge University Press. p. 291. ISBN 9780521850032.
13. "Mars's mysterious elongated crater". ESA. 2010-08-27. Archived from the original on 2013-06-07.
14. "HRSC Press Release #471 - Orcus Patera (orbit 2216 & 2238)". ESA/DLR/FU Berlin. 2010-08-27. Archived from the original on 2014-08-07.
15. McKinnon W. B.; Kirk R. L. (1998). "Triton". In P. Weissman; L.-A. McFadden; T. Johnson (eds.). Encyclopedia of the Solar System. Academic Press. p. 418. ISBN 9780080573137.
16. Lopes R.M.C.; Kirk R.L.; Mitchell K.L.; Legall A.; Barnes J.W.; Hayes A.; Kargel J.; Wye L.; Radebaugh J.; Stofan E.R.; Janssen M.A.; Neish C.D.; Wall S.D.; Wood C.A.; Lunine J.I.; Malaska M.J. (March 2013). "Cryovolcanism on Titan: New results from Cassini RADAR and VIMS" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 118 (3): 416–435. Bibcode:2013JGRE..118..416L. doi:10.1002/jgre.20062. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-25.
17. Hargitai H.; Li C.; Zhang Zh.; Zuo W.; Mu L.; Li H.; Shingareva K. B.; Shevchenko V. V. (2014). "Chinese and Russian Language Equivalents of the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: an Overview of Planetary Toponym Localization Methods" (PDF). The Cartographic Journal. 56 (4): 335–354. doi:10.1179/1743277413Y.0000000051. ISSN 1743-2774. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-03-06.
18. Strobell M. E.; Masursky H. (1990). "Planetary nomenclature". In R. Greeley; R. M. Batson (eds.). Planetary Mapping. Cambridge University Press. pp. 99, 113. ISBN 9780521033732.
19. Zimbelman J.R.; Shingareva K.B. (2001). "Compilation of a Glossary of International Terms related to Planetary Cartography" (PDF). Proceed. 20th ICA/ACI Conference, Beijing. 5: 3269–3274. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-08.
20. Peterfreund A. R.; Head J. W.; Grieve R. A. F.; Campbell D. B. (March 1984). "Cleopatra Patera, a Circular Structure in Maxwell Montes, Venus; Volcanic or Impact?" (PDF). Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference: 641–642. Bibcode:1984LPI....15..641P.
21. Basilevsky A. T.; Schaber G. G. (1991). "Cleopatra Crater on Venus: Happy Solution of the Volcanic vs. Impact Crater Controversy" (PDF). Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 22 (1): 59–60. Bibcode:1991LPI....22...59B. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-11.
22. "Cleopatra". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). 2006-10-01. Archived from the original on 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
23. Hargitai H. (2014). "Patera, Paterae". In H. Hargitai; Á. Kereszturi (eds.). Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer New York. pp. 1–3. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_528-1. ISBN 978-1-4614-9213-9.
24. Gregg T. K. P. (2014). "Highland Patera". In H. Hargitai; Á. Kereszturi (eds.). Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer New York. pp. 1–7. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_188-1. ISBN 978-1-4614-9213-9.
25. Plescia, J. B. (2004). "Morphometric properties of Martian volcanoes". Journal of Geophysical Research. 109 (E3): E03003. Bibcode:2004JGRE..109.3003P. doi:10.1029/2002JE002031. (example of using the term "patera" for the whole volcanoes)
26. "Alba Mons". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). 2007-09-19. Archived from the original on 2012-08-08. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
27. Бурба Г. А. (1981). К. П. Флоренский; Ю. И. Ефремов (eds.). Номенклатура деталей рельефа Марса [Nomenclature of surface features of Mars] (in Russian). Москва: Наука. pp. 24, 26.
28. De Vaucouleurs G.; Davies M.; Dollfus A.; Koval I. K.; Masursky H.; Miyamoto S.; Moroz V. I.; Sagan C.; Blunck J.; Kuiper G. P. (September 1975). "The new Martian nomenclature of the international Astronomical Union" (PDF). Icarus. 26 (1): 85–98. Bibcode:1975Icar...26...85D. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(75)90146-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-07.
29. "Patera, paterae — Nomenclature Search Results". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Archived from the original on 2014-08-06. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
30. "Categories for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Archived from the original on 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
31. "Sotra Facula". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). 2012-12-19. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2014-08-24.

External links

• Lists of named paterae: on Venus, on Mars, on Io, on Ganymede, on Titan, on Triton