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AS 17-2773 - Overlapping Craters
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This pair of overlapping medium-sized craters illustrates some of the criteria used to determine relative ages: material ejected from the larger polygonal crater on the left partially fills the smaller crater on the right; thus, the crater on the left is younger. Furthermore, the wall of the large crater is complete, whereas the West wall of the smaller crater is absent, obviously having been destroyed by the larger crater.
Even if the 2 craters did not overlap, the sharp rim, terraced walls and prominent central peak of the larger crater clearly identify it as the younger of the two. The frames used in the stereogram were selected to show exaggerated relief, a technique very helpful to photointerpreters in determining shapes and relative elevations of surface features.
These 2 craters are located in the rugged terrain of the Far-Side highlands, approx. 250 Km north of Tsiolkovsky.
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