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Craters, boulders and regolith of (101955) Bennu indicative of an old and dynamic surface

Nature Geoscience volume 12, pages 242–246 (2019)Cite this article

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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 04 April 2019

This article has been updated

Abstract

Small, kilometre-sized near-Earth asteroids are expected to have young and frequently refreshed surfaces for two reasons: collisional disruptions are frequent in the main asteroid belt where they originate, and thermal or tidal processes act on them once they become near-Earth asteroids. Here we present early measurements of numerous large candidate impact craters on near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu by the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) mission, which indicate a surface that is between 100 million and 1 billion years old, predating Bennu’s expected duration as a near-Earth asteroid. We also observe many fractured boulders, the morphology of which suggests an influence of impact or thermal processes over a considerable amount of time since the boulders were exposed at the surface. However, the surface also shows signs of more recent mass movement: clusters of boulders at topographic lows, a deficiency of small craters and infill of large craters. The oldest features likely record events from Bennu’s time in the main asteroid belt.

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Fig. 1: The boulders of Bennu can be large and are sometimes fractured or brecciated.
Fig. 2: Boulder abundance map of the surface of Bennu.
Fig. 3: Examples of Bennu’s craters.
Fig. 4: Flow of material into a D = 160 m candidate crater.

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Data availability

Raw through to calibrated datasets will be available via the Planetary Data System (PDS) (https://sbn.psi.edu/pds/resource/orex/). Data are delivered to the PDS according to the OSIRIS-REx Data Management Plan available in the OSIRIS-REx PDS archive. Higher-level products, for example, global mosaics and elevation maps, will be available in the PDS one year after departure from the asteroid.

Change history

  • 04 April 2019

    An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

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Acknowledgements

This material is based on work supported by NASA under contracts NNM10AA11C and NNH09ZDA007O issued through the New Frontiers Program. M.P. was supported for this research by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) under the ASI-INAF agreement no. 2017–37-H.0. M.D., P.M., and A.R. would like to acknowledge the French space agency CNES. M.D., A.R., P.M. and S.R.S acknowledge support from the Academies of Excellence on Complex Systems and Space, Environment, Risk and Resilience of the Initiative d’EXcellence ‘Joint, Excellent, and Dynamic Initiative’ (IDEX JEDI) of the Université Côte d’Azur. Part of this work was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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Author notes

  1. A list of participants and their affiliations appears in the online version of the paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA

    K. J. Walsh, W. F. Bottke, W. F. Bottke, V. E. Hamilton, H. H. Kaplan & K. J. Walsh

  2. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA

    E. R. Jawin, T. J. McCoy, E. R. Jawin & T. J. McCoy

  3. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    R.-L. Ballouz, S. R. Schwartz, E. Asphaug, K. J. Becker, C. A. Bennett, K. N. Burke, D. N. DellaGiustina, D. R. Golish, R. Malhotra, M. C. Nolan, B. Rizk, D. S. Lauretta, M. Arvizu-Jakubicki, E. Asphaug, E. Audi, R.-L. Ballouz, R. Bandrowski, K. J. Becker, T. L. Becker, S. Bendall, C. A. Bennett, H. Bloomenthal, D. Blum, W. V. Boynton, J. Brodbeck, K. N. Burke, M. Chojnacki, A. Colpo, J. Contreras, J. Cutts, C. Y. Drouet d’Aubigny, D. Dean, D. N. DellaGiustina, B. Diallo, D. Drinnon, K. Drozd, H. L. Enos, R. Enos, C. Fellows, T. Ferro, M. R. Fisher, G. Fitzgibbon, M. Fitzgibbon, J. Forelli, T. Forrester, I. Galinsky, R. Garcia, A. Gardner, D. R. Golish, N. Habib, D. Hamara, D. Hammond, K. Hanley, K. Harshman, C. W. Hergenrother, K. Herzog, D. Hill, C. Hoekenga, S. Hooven, E. S. Howell, E. Huettner, A. Janakus, J. Jones, T. R. Kareta, J. Kidd, K. Kingsbury, S. S. Balram-Knutson, L. Koelbel, J. Kreiner, D. Lambert, D. S. Lauretta, C. Lewin, B. Lovelace, M. Loveridge, M. Lujan, C. K. Maleszewski, R. Malhotra, K. Marchese, E. McDonough, N. Mogk, V. Morrison, E. Morton, R. Munoz, J. Nelson, M. C. Nolan, J. Padilla, R. Pennington, A. Polit, N. Ramos, V. Reddy, M. Riehl, B. Rizk, H. L. Roper, S. Salazar, S. R. Schwartz, S. Selznick, N. Shultz, P. H. Smith, S. Stewart, S. Sutton, T. Swindle, Y. H. Tang, M. Westermann, C. W. V. Wolner, D. Worden, T. Zega, Z. Zeszut & S. Russell

  4. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA

    O. S. Barnouin, M. E. Perry, O. S. Barnouin, K. Craft, R. T. Daly, C. Ernst, R. C. Espiritu, M. Holdridge, M. Jones, A. H. Nair, L. Nguyen, J. Peachey, M. E. Perry, J. Plescia, J. H. Roberts & R. Steele

  5. Lockheed Martin Space, Littleton, CO, USA

    E. B. Bierhaus, E. B. Bierhaus, O. Billett, A. Boggs, B. Buck, S. Carlson-Kelly, J. Cerna, K. Chaffin, E. Church, M. Coltrin, J. Daly, A. Deguzman, R. Dubisher, D. Eckart, D. Ellis, P. Falkenstern, A. Fisher, M. E. Fisher, P. Fleming, K. Fortney, S. Francis, S. Freund, S. Gonzales, P. Haas, A. Hasten, D. Hauf, A. Hilbert, D. Howell, F. Jaen, N. Jayakody, M. Jenkins, K. Johnson, M. Lefevre, H. Ma, C. Mario, K. Martin, C. May, M. McGee, B. Miller, C. Miller, G. Miller, A. Mirfakhrai, E. Muhle, C. Norman, R. Olds, C. Parish, M. Ryle, M. Schmitzer, P. Sherman, M. Skeen, M. Susak, B. Sutter, Q. Tran, C. Welch, R. Witherspoon, J. Wood & J. Zareski

  6. Department of Geology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

    H. C. Connolly Jr. & H. C. Connolly Jr.

  7. Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA

    J. L. Molaro, C. L. Johnson, R. W. Gaskell, L. Le Corre, J.-Y. Li, J. L. Molaro, E. E. Palmer, M. A. Siegler, P. Tricarico, J. R. Weirich & X.-D. Zou

  8. Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France

    M. Delbo’, P. Michel, A. Ryan, F. Thuillet, M. Delbó, G. Libourel, P. Michel, A. Ryan & F. Thuillet

  9. Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    C. M. Hartzell & C. M. Hartzell

  10. INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Padova, Italy

    M. Pajola & M. Pajola

  11. Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    D. Trang & D. Trang

  12. SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA

    C. B. Beddingfield, J. Marshall, C. B. Beddingfield & J. Marshall

  13. Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO, USA

    B. C. Clark, J. L. Bandfield & B. C. Clark

  14. The Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    M. G. Daly, M. G. Daly, J. Freemantle & J. A. Seabrook

  15. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    J. P. Dworkin, A. Aqueche, B. Ashman, M. Barker, A. Bartels, K. Berry, B. Bos, R. Burns, A. Calloway, R. Carpenter, N. Castro, R. Cosentino, J. Donaldson, J. P. Dworkin, J. Elsila Cook, C. Emr, D. Everett, D. Fennell, K. Fleshman, D. Folta, D. Gallagher, J. Garvin, K. Getzandanner, D. Glavin, S. Hull, K. Hyde, H. Ido, A. Ingegneri, N. Jones, P. Kaotira, L. F. Lim, A. Liounis, C. Lorentson, D. Lorenz, J. Lyzhoft, E. M. Mazarico, R. Mink, W. Moore, M. Moreau, S. Mullen, J. Nagy, G. Neumann, J. Nuth, D. Poland, D. C. Reuter, L. Rhoads, S. Rieger, D. Rowlands, D. Sallitt, A. Scroggins, G. Shaw, A. A. Simon, J. Swenson, P. Vasudeva, M. Wasser & R. Zellar

  16. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    C. M. Elder, J. Bellerose, S. Bhaskaran, C. Boyles, S. R. Chesley, C. M. Elder, D. Farnocchia, A. Harbison, B. Kennedy, A. Knight, N. Martinez-Vlasoff, N. Mastrodemos, T. McElrath, W. Owen, R. Park, B. Rush, L. Swanson, Y. Takahashi, D. Velez & K. Yetter

  17. Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    A. R. Hildebrand, F. Ciceri, A. R. Hildebrand & E.-M. Ibrahim

  18. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    S. A. Sandford, S. A. Sandford & R. Turner

  19. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    D. J. Scheeres, D. N. Brack, A. S. French, J. W. McMahon & D. J. Scheeres

  20. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    H. C. M. Susorney, M. M. Al Asad, C. L. Johnson, L. Philpott & H. C. M. Susorney

  21. Aerospace Corporation, Chantilly, VA, USA

    D. E. Highsmith & J. Small

  22. Astronomical Institute, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    D. Vokrouhlický

  23. Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    N. E. Bowles, E. Brown, K. L. Donaldson Hanna & T. Warren

  24. Canadian Space Agency, Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada

    C. Brunet, R. A. Chicoine, S. Desjardins, D. Gaudreau, T. Haltigin, S. Millington-Veloza & A. Rubi

  25. Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA

    J. Aponte, N. Gorius & A. Lunsford

  26. Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    B. Allen, J. Grindlay, D. Guevel, D. Hoak & J. Hong

  27. Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    D. L. Schrader

  28. City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    J. Bayron

  29. Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    O. Golubov & P. Sánchez

  30. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    J. Stromberg

  31. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    M. Hirabayashi

  32. Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, USA

    S. Oliver & M. Rascon

  33. Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    A. Harch, J. Joseph & S. Squyres

  34. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    D. Richardson

  35. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    J. P. Emery & L. McGraw

  36. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    R. Ghent

  37. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    R. P. Binzel

  38. Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    E. A. Cloutis

  39. Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

    R. D. Hanna

  40. Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    L. Breitenfeld, T. Glotch & A. D. Rogers

  41. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA

    B. E. Clark & S. Ferrone

  42. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    C. A. Thomas

  43. Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    H. Campins & Y. Fernandez

  44. Edge Space Systems, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    W. Chang

  45. General Dynamics C4 Systems, Denver, CO, USA

    A. Cheuvront

  46. Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

    S. Tachibana & H. Yurimoto

  47. INAF–Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Florence, Italy

    J. R. Brucato & G. Poggiali

  48. INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Rome, Italy

    E. Dotto & E. Mazzotta Epifani

  49. Indigo Information Services, Tucson, AZ, USA

    M. K. Crombie

  50. Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS/Université Paris Sud, Orsay, France

    C. Lantz

  51. Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University–Misasa, Misasa, Japan

    M. R. M. Izawa

  52. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

    J. de Leon, J. Licandro & J. L. Rizos Garcia

  53. Jacobs Technology, Houston, TX, USA

    S. Clemett & K. Thomas-Keprta

  54. JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Japan

    S. Van wal, M. Yoshikawa & S.-i. Watanabe

  55. Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    C. Thayer

  56. KinetX Aerospace, Inc., Simi Valley, CA, USA

    C. Adam, P. Antreasian, J. Bauman, C. Bryan, B. Carcich, M. Corvin, J. Geeraert, J. Hoffman, J. M. Leonard, E. Lessac-Chenen, A. Levine, J. McAdams, L. McCarthy, D. Nelson, B. Page, J. Pelgrift, E. Sahr, K. Stakkestad, D. Stanbridge, D. Wibben, B. Williams, K. Williams & P. Wolff

  57. Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    P. Hayne & D. Kubitschek

  58. LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Meudon, France

    M. A. Barucci, J. D. P. Deshapriya, S. Fornasier, M. Fulchignoni, P. Hasselmann, F. Merlin & A. Praet

  59. Macdonald, Dettwiler, and Associates, Brampton, Ontario, Canada

    A. Bjurstrom, L. Bloomquist, C. Dickinson, E. Keates, J. Liang, V. Nifo, A. Taylor & F. Teti

  60. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA, USA

    M. Caplinger

  61. Mars Space Flight Facility, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    H. Bowles, S. Carter, S. Dickenshied, D. Doerres, T. Fisher, W. Hagee, J. Hill, M. Miner, D. Noss, N. Piacentine, M. Smith, A. Toland & P. Wren

  62. Mines ParisTech, Paris, France

    M. Bernacki & D. Pino Munoz

  63. Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

    S.-i. Watanabe

  64. NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, USA

    J. Grossman, G. Johnston, M. Morris & J. Wendel

  65. NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA

    A. Burton, L. P. Keller, L. McNamara, S. Messenger, K. Nakamura-Messenger, A. Nguyen & K. Righter

  66. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA

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  67. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA

    K. Bellamy, K. Dill, S. Gardner, M. Giuntini, B. Key, J. Kissell, D. Patterson, D. Vaughan & B. Wright

  68. Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    T. Ireland

  69. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    K. Tait

  70. School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    P. Bland

  71. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    S. Anwar, N. Bojorquez-Murphy, P. R. Christensen, C. W. Haberle, G. Mehall & K. Rios

  72. School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

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  73. Southwest Meteorite Laboratory, Payson, AZ, USA

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  74. Space Systems Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

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  75. US Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    J. Backer, K. Edmundson, J. Mapel, M. Milazzo & S. Sides

  76. London Stereoscopic Company, London, UK

    C. Manzoni & B. May

  77. Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France

    B. Marty

Authors
  1. K. J. Walsh
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  2. E. R. Jawin
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  3. R.-L. Ballouz
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  37. F. Thuillet
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  38. D. S. Lauretta
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  • , T. J. McCoy
  • , S. Russell
  • , M. Killgore
  • , W. F. Bottke
  • , V. E. Hamilton
  • , H. H. Kaplan
  • , K. J. Walsh
  • , J. L. Bandfield
  • , B. C. Clark
  • , M. Chodas
  • , M. Lambert
  • , R. A. Masterson
  • , M. G. Daly
  • , J. Freemantle
  • , J. A. Seabrook
  • , O. S. Barnouin
  • , K. Craft
  • , R. T. Daly
  • , C. Ernst
  • , R. C. Espiritu
  • , M. Holdridge
  • , M. Jones
  • , A. H. Nair
  • , L. Nguyen
  • , J. Peachey
  • , M. E. Perry
  • , J. Plescia
  • , J. H. Roberts
  • , R. Steele
  • , R. Turner
  • , J. Backer
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  • , M. Milazzo
  • , S. Sides
  • , C. Manzoni
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  • , M. Delbó
  • , G. Libourel
  • , P. Michel
  • , A. Ryan
  • , F. Thuillet
  •  & B. Marty

Contributions

K.J.W. led the mapping, analysis and manuscript writing. E.R.J., R.-L.B., O.S.B., E.B.B., H.C.C., J.L.M. and T.J.M. contributed to the mapping, analysis and writing of the manuscript. D.S.L. leads the mission and contributed to analysis and writing. M.D., C.M.H., M.P., S.R.S. and D.T. contributed to mapping and manuscript writing. E.A., K.J.B., C.B.B., W.F.B., C.A.B., K.N.B., B.C.C., M.G.D., D.N.D., J.P.D., C.M.E., D.R.G., A.R.H., R.M., J.M., P.M., M.C.N., M.E.P., B.R., A.R., D.J.S., H.C.C., S.A.S., H.C.M.S. and F.T. all contributed to the mapping, analysis or manuscript writing. The entire OSIRIS-REx Team made the Bennu encounter possible.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. J. Walsh.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Walsh, K.J., Jawin, E.R., Ballouz, RL. et al. Craters, boulders and regolith of (101955) Bennu indicative of an old and dynamic surface. Nat. Geosci. 12, 242–246 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0326-6

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