Some planetary scientists believe that Miranda was shattered by an impact with a large body, and then the pieces reassembled themselves in this topsy turvy state with pieces blended together seen face on that used to be the laminations of material settling within the body of the satellite like the sedimentary layers in sandstone. Pieces that used to be facing inward towards the core, are now seen sandwiched together on their side. Internal heating might also have convected material to the surface in these regions.
Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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