[3][4][5][6] With further study, researchers have divided related craters into three different classes.
Pedestal craters are near the center of a plateau that has an outward-facing scarp (cliff).
The smaller, "pedestal craters," developed a protective covering by a different process.
The resulting water could dissolve salts and minerals and produce a coating resistant to erosion.
[16] During that time the obliquity (tilt) of the spin axis of Mars underwent many large variations.