What Does crater Mean
The etymological origin of crater is found in a Greek word that later derived in the Latin crater (translatable as "cup" ). In the broadest sense , a crater is a sinkhole or a concavity that is usually circular in shape.
In general, the notion refers specifically to the topographic depression that is generated by the explosion of a volcano , through which lava, ash, smoke and other substances or particles can escape.
Volcanic activity produces this type of craters that are usually located at the top of the volcano and that function as its “mouth” . There are volcanoes that have a main crater and other secondary ones.
Craters, on the other hand, can be produced by the impact caused by a meteorite when it falls on the earth's surface. According to the mass , speed and kinetic energy of the meteorite, the resulting crater will be more or less large.
An example of these craters is the Vredefort crater in South Africa . It is believed to have occurred more than 2 billion years ago, making it the oldest crater on our planet among all those that are visible.
Craters are also found on other planets beyond Earth , and even on satellites like the Moon . Craters have been detected on Mars , Venus and Mercury , for example.
The explosion craters on the other hand, are those depressions caused as a result of explosive material . If someone detonates a bomb on an urban highway, for example, it is likely to cause the pavement to subside, among other disturbances in the surroundings.
It is known as an astroblema or impact crater to the depression that remains after the impact of a meteorite on a planetary body whose surface is solid, such as a planet, a satellite, an asteroid or a dwarf planet.
It is important to note that the dimensions of the meteorites that reach the stars are very varied, since they can be from small grains of dust to immense bodies of several tens of kilometers . Its kinetic energy is such that it can cause a fragmentation typical of an explosion on the ground , given its violence. There have been cases of meteorites with considerable masses that caused, at the moment of impact, the lava to escape, which solidified and gave the craters a flat base.
Crater derives from a Greek term that means "vessel", and this is because its shape is similar to that of a bowl, as well as that left by the explosion of a bomb or a projectile, something that has been proven in several experiments . The impact craters never arrive alone, but cause a great number of changes in the landscape due to the great violence with which the meteorite impacts on the earth; for example, breccias appear (detrital sedimentary rocks that are 50% formed by stone fragments fused by a natural cement).
Craters appear less frequently on planets that have a gaseous envelope, in part because friction with the layer of gas called the atmosphere sharply slows meteorites. This friction also heats them considerably, up to thousands of degrees Celsius, and this can lead to three phenomena , depending on the physical characteristics of the meteorite:
* it can volatilize far away from the planet and slowly fall as meteorite dust;
* can disintegrate near the surface due to the difference between its indoor and outdoor temperatures;
* can wear out considerably during your journey (this is known as ablation ).