Schiaparelli Basin, Mars - Morphology, Tectonics and infilling history

Schiaparelli Basin (an elliptical basin 460 x 400 km in diameter) is the best preserved large impact structure on Mars. Multiple periods of basin infilling by lava and eolian material can be recognized. Numerous ridges within the basin show a strong northwest-southeast orientation, consistent with a regional stress field induced by the loading of the lithosphere by Tharsis. Ridge location is, however, apparently dominated by a buried peak ring. Earth-based radar measurements of Schiaparelli indicate that the ejecta deposits are best preserved on topographic highs southeast of the basin, while eolian materials have preferentially accumulated in the lower (western) side of the basin. Lyot (215 km diameter) is believed to be a good analogue to the pre-infilled Schiaparelli, and indicates that Schiaparelli probably had an initially hummocky floor topography and both ballistic and ground-flow ejecta deposits.