Pit crater  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:
navigation, search Kilauea with Halemaumau Halemaumau crater,
Hawaii Deep pit crater on Hualalai Hawaii  A pit crater (also
called a subsidence crater or collapse crater) is a depression
formed by a sinking or collapse of the surface lying above a
void or empty chamber, rather than by the eruption of a volcano
or lava vent.[1] Pit craters are found on Mercury, Venus,[2][3]
Earth and Mars.[4] as well as many of our solar systems
terrestrial moons. Pit craters are often found in a series of
aligned or offset chains and in these cases, the features is
called a pit crater chain. Pit crater chains are distinguished
from catenae or crater chains by their origin. When adjoining
walls between pits in a pit crater chain collapse, they become
troughs. In these cases, the craters may merge into a linear
alignment and are commonly found along extensional structures
such as fractures, fissures and graben. Pit craters usually lack
an elevated rim as well as the eje