Investigating the origin of small hills on Ceres through morphometric comparisons with potential terrestrial analogs

Abstract

Hills on planetary surfaces may preserve morphological signatures diagnostic of their formational processes. This study tests whether quantitative morphometric characteristics can distinguish between formation mechanisms and be applied to inform the genesis of hills on Ceres, the largest known body in the Asteroid Belt. Terrestrial analogs representing volcanic cones, pingos, mogotes, and drumlins were measured using consistent topographic metrics, including aspect ratio, symmetry, maximum slope, skewness, excess kurtosis, curvature, and height-to-diameter relationships. Statistical distributions from these analogs were compared to 111 candidate hills located between Urvara and Occator craters and within Occator crater on Ceres. A probabilistic analysis was also conducted, producing a terrestrial affinity for each cerean hill. Cerean hills exhibit broad, symmetric, low-slope morphologies that most closely align with terrestrial volcanic cone and pingo analogs. These results support volatile-driven or cryogenic formation mechanisms and demonstrate that quantitative morphometry provides a reproducible framework for interpreting planetary surface processes.