The Messina Chasmata /mɛˈsiːnə ˈkæzmətə/ 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]
The Messina Chasmata /mɛˈsiːnə ˈkæzmətə/ 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]