crater

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Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Crater Lake, Oregon

Lake Coatepeque

heavily cratered region of Callisto

sand dunes on Mars

False-colour picture of Memnonia Fossae, near Tharsis.The craters in the upper and lower halves of the image are separated by a radial valley produced by volcanic and tectonic activity. The colour variations represent the effects of wind, water, and lava flows.

Martian surface near the equator. The right half of the picture is dominated by craters; the lighter areas on the left are channels that were probably caused by water runoff from the west (left). This false-colour composite picture is based on high-resolution black-and-white and low-resolution colour images taken by the Viking 1 and Viking 2 spacecraft.

Mars: Yuty Crater

Mercury: double-ringed crater

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Ash cloud rising from the Kilauea Volcano Pu`u `O `o as crater floor collapses due to magma withdrawal. Incandescent rubble can be seen crumbling and rolling down the scarp. East rim of Pu`u `O `o is in the foreground, Kilauea, Hawaii on March 6, 2011.

Watch Your Step: 6 Things You Can Fall Into

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Illustration for Demystified "How Dangerous is Quicksand"

How Deadly Is Quicksand?

Submerged sperm whale off east Sri Lanka coast, mammal

How Did the Sperm Whale Get Its Name?

All Saints Day. All Souls Day. Candles in cemetery in Poland on All Saints Day, November 1. All Souls Day, November 2. Christian church, All Hallows, Solemnity of All Saints, Feast of All Saints, purgatory, Roman Catholic church

7 Unique Burial Rituals Across the World

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

Statue of Nostradamus

Nostradamus and His Prophecies

Artist interpretation of a Space meteoroid impact. Meteor impact. Asteroid, End of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Planet Earth, Doomsday Predictions, comet

10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)

All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained

crater: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Crater Lake, Oregon

Lake Coatepeque

heavily cratered region of Callisto

sand dunes on Mars

False-colour picture of Memnonia Fossae, near Tharsis.The craters in the upper and lower halves of the image are separated by a radial valley produced by volcanic and tectonic activity. The colour variations represent the effects of wind, water, and lava flows.

Martian surface near the equator. The right half of the picture is dominated by craters; the lighter areas on the left are channels that were probably caused by water runoff from the west (left). This false-colour composite picture is based on high-resolution black-and-white and low-resolution colour images taken by the Viking 1 and Viking 2 spacecraft.

Mars: Yuty Crater

Mercury: double-ringed crater

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Topics

meteorite crater maar lunar crater caldera impact structure tuff ring Aristarchus basin explosion crater shatter cone ice formation volcano mountain cave valley tectonic basins and rift valleys plateau continental shelf fault karst

List

Ash cloud rising from the Kilauea Volcano Pu`u `O `o as crater floor collapses due to magma withdrawal. Incandescent rubble can be seen crumbling and rolling down the scarp. East rim of Pu`u `O `o is in the foreground, Kilauea, Hawaii on March 6, 2011.

Watch Your Step: 6 Things You Can Fall Into