Mineralogical mapping of Coniraya quadrangle of the dwarf planet Ceres

Abstract

Ceres has been explored by NASA/Dawn spacecraft, which allowed for the discovery of the main mineralogical and compositional characteristics of Ceres’ surface. Here, we use mainly data from the Visible and InfraRed imaging spectrometer (VIR) in order to investigate the main spectral characteristics of the quadrangle Ac-H-2 Coniraya, one of the 15 quads in which Ceres’ surface has been divided. Coniraya quadrangle is characterized by the presence of mostly highly degraded impact craters of diameters between 50 and 200 km and clusters of small to midsize impact craters. Although the composition over the quadrangle appears to be quite uniform, significant differences have been detected between different craters by spectral parameters analysis and spectral modeling. Ernutet crater presents two regions with very peculiar band at 3.4 µm, typical of organics aliphatic material. One region result to be correlated with larger amount of carbonates, the other region does not present such correlation. Ikapati crater shows strong absorption bands at 4.0 µm, indicating the presence of Na-carbonates in the floor and ejecta. Ikapati, Gaue and other craters present smaller spectral features of NH4 and/or OH stretching, suggesting a volatile depletion process induced by the heating of the impact event.