Question

Which of the following best describes multi-ring basins?

a. They have flat floors, a central peak, and terraced rims.
b. They are circular, bowl-shaped depressions, that are partially filled with impact breccia.
c. They are the largest impact craters.
d. They are the pits in rocks caused by micrometeoroids.

Answer 1

Multi-ring basins have flat floors, central peaks, and terraced rims and are among the largest impact craters formed by material collisions with a planetary surface, such as the Moon or Venus.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct description of multi-ring basins is that they have flat floors, a central peak, and terraced rims. Multi-ring basins result from impact explosions that create an initially bowl-shaped central cavity. This cavity is then altered by the rebound of the crust, leading to a flattening of the floor and sometimes the formation of a central peak. Additionally, landslides around the rim create a series of terraces. These basins are different from other types of impact craters, such as the smaller, simple craters or the pits formed by micrometeoroids.

Multi-ring basins are among the largest impact craters, formed by the collision of large chunks of material, like asteroids, with a planetary surface. On the Moon, for example, impact basins have been partly filled by lava flows, resulting in maria made of dark-colored basalt. Impact explosions and resulting basins are not only limited to the Moon, as evidenced by impact craters found in the Lavinia region of Venus.