Talk:Ceraunius Fossae

Please advise about what is wrong with this article. This page refers to a major part of Mars. I will probably be adding to it. I feel qualified to write it because I taught astronomy and earth science for many years. I've used the hubble space telescope and have given manny talks about astonomy. I would like to contribute more to wiki, but I'm having trouble with the rules, conventions, and codes. Thank You, Jim ````
 * If have trouble you can ask me. Ruslik_ Zero 12:07, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I wholeheartedly agree with Jim. There's a lot wrong in this article. Schaffman (talk) 13:23, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Ceraunius Fossae is a trough
Actually it's a system of crustal fractures that include narrow grabens and (probably) tension cracks. It is not a single trough. Since this stub ties in with the Alba Mons article I've recently finished, I'd like to expand it and correct what I think are mistakes. All comments are welcome. Schaffman (talk) 11:56, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

Fossae are...troughs...in the geographic language used for Mars
The sentence is not wrong, but it's imprecise. Fossa is a descriptor term. It is one of many developed by the USGS in the late 1960s for topographic features on extraterrestrial bodies. Descriptor terms are not really geographical (as I think of the word) and don't just apply to Mars. I get the sense from my studies that the descriptor terms are not terribly popular with planetary scientists, but are part of the nomeclature system they're stuck with. Schaffman (talk) 07:55, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Fossae (section)
I recommend deleting this section since most of it is covered in the Fossa (geology) article. The material here specific to Ceraunius Fossae is pretty good and can be kept but should be folded into an overall discussion of the region. Are there any objections? Schaffman (talk) 12:38, 5 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I've changed the title of this heading to Geology and expanded the information in it. I hope the section is now a little clearer and better organized (though maybe not). Schaffman (talk) 12:57, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Dark slope streaks (section)
I've commented elsewhere about why dark slope streaks are discussed in such detail in articles about a specific location or feature on Mars. Since the slope streaks are so common on Mars, they deserve an article on their own. I don't see why every Mars-related article has to include a discussion about them. Schaffman (talk) 08:04, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

I recommend deleting this section and moving the bulk of it to the Dark Slope Streaks article. Please comment. Schaffman (talk) 12:40, 5 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm going to go ahead and delete this section. It really has nothing specifically to do with Ceraunius Fossae. Schaffman (talk) 13:19, 9 June 2011 (UTC)