Impact craters with ejecta flows and central pits on Mercury

Impact craters with ejecta flows and/or central pits have been found on Venus, the Moon, Earth, Mars,
and some icy satellites. Using the MESSENGER camera data obtained during the orbital mission, we
found craters with ejecta flows and central pits on Mercury. The ejecta flows differ from normal
ballistically emplaced ejecta deposits in their long mobilized distances. They all flowed in downslope
directions and exhibited a layered morphology. Analog study suggests that the ejecta flows probably
have formed by fluidization in the ejecta deposits. Crustal volatiles are not required to form the ejecta
flows on Mercury, although they may have helped. The ejecta flows are most likely to be a type of
avalanche features in forms of dry granular flows. Central pits in impact craters on Mercury are located
on summits of central peaks when viewing in sufficiently high-resolution images, but some of the central
pits may occur on crater floors. The central pit craters are all fresh craters located on smooth plains and
intercrater plains. The pits are different from the other forms of rimless and irregularly-shaped
depressions on Mercury in the size, morphology, and/or occurrence. Crustal volatiles are not required
in forming the central pit craters and they may form in a similar way with the central pit craters on
the Moon.