Are Sedimentary Layers the Cause of Banding on Asteroid Vesta?

[DoggerDan]

I found the recent report in Yahoo! News very interesting.

For one, it appears to have bands. The first thing that jumped into my mind was "sedimentary layers." Could there be another explanation for such banding?

If the Southern half is dominated by a giant crater, it makes sense it'd be smoother, much like the "seas" on the Moon.

Here is a copy of the report: http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-stunned-surface-asteroid-vesta-204550456.html

 

[Fewmet]

I found the recent report in Yahoo! News very interesting.

For one, it appears to have bands. The first thing that jumped into my mind was "sedimentary layers." Could there be another explanation for such banding?
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Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/b...paign=Feed:+BadAstronomyBlog+(Bad+Astronomy)" the grooves are "those parallel grooves are from waves of energy moving through the asteroid during the impact event". It sound to me like they are folds from a collision, although the images make why I presume to be anticlines conspicuously sharper than the synclines. Or maybe that's reflection later changes. I know there is no atmospheric erosion, but I think micrometeor impacts cause rounding of features on the Moon.

The link includes an animation of Vesta rotating.

 

[Dotini]

Phobos, a moon of Mars, has grooves, too.

A differing explanation for grooves is offered.
http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001391/
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2006/pdf/2195.pdf


Respectfully submitted,
Steve