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Messina Chasmata

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Messina Chasmata

Messina Chasmata is near the center of this Voyager 2 image of Titania

Feature typeChasm system
LocationTitania
Coordinates33°18′S 25°00′W / 33.30°S 25.00°W[1]
Length~1,492 km (927 mi)[1][a]
DiscovererVoyager 2
NamingOfficial

The Messina Chasmata are the largest canyon or system of canyons on the surface of the Uranian moon Titania, named after a location in William Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing.[1] The 1,492 km (927 mi) long feature includes two normal faults running NW–SE, which bound a down-dropped crustal block forming a structure called a graben.[2] The graben cuts impact craters, which probably means that it was formed at a relatively late stage of the moon's evolution,[3] when the interior of Titania expanded and its ice crust cracked as a result.[4] The Messina Chasmata have only a few superimposed craters, which also implies being relatively young. The feature was first imaged by Voyager 2 in January 1986.[2]

  1. ^ Length is labelled under "diameter" in the GPN database.
  1. ^ a b c "Messina Chasmata". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program. (Center Latitude: -33.30°, Center Longitude: 335.00°; Planetocentric, +East)
  2. ^ a b Smith, B. A.; Soderblom, L. A.; Beebe, A.; Bliss, D.; Boyce, J. M.; Brahic, A.; Briggs, G. A.; Brown, R. H.; Collins, S. A. (4 July 1986). "Voyager 2 in the Uranian System: Imaging Science Results". Science. 233 (4759): 43–64. Bibcode:1986Sci...233...43S. doi:10.1126/science.233.4759.43. PMID 17812889. S2CID 5895824.
  3. ^ Plescia, J. B. (30 December 1987). "Cratering history of the Uranian satellites: Umbriel, Titania and Oberon". Journal of Geophysical Research. 92 (A13): 14, 918–14, 932. Bibcode:1987JGR....9214918P. doi:10.1029/JA092iA13p14918. ISSN 0148-0227.
  4. ^ Croft, S.K. (March 1989). New Geologic Maps of the Uranian Satellites Titania, Oberon, Umbriel and Miranda. Proceeding of Lunar and Planetary Sciences. Vol. 20. Lunar and Planetary Sciences Institute, Houston. p. 205C. Bibcode:1989LPI....20..205C.