Geological Chronicle
Located near the south pole along the southern lunar limb, Amundsen is viewed from the side by an observer on Earth. The crater lies across the rim of the 355-km diameter Amundsen-Ganswindt basin, which dates to the Pre-Nectarian era. The impact that formed Amundsen dates to around 4.04 billion years ago, followed by resurfacing events on the crater floor and surrounding plains 3.8 and 3.7 billion years ago.
The rim is slightly distended along its southern edge, where the terraced inner surface is wider than elsewhere along the outer wall. The northern wall receives large amounts of solar illumination and flux from the solar wind, resulting in increased maturity of the regolith compared to the shadowed southern face. Across the inner floor, which is relatively flat, sits a pair of central peaks near the midpoint; only the southern floor and the central peaks receive sunlight during the lunar day, leaving much of the floor cloaked in shadow.
Because of this persistent shadowing, Amundsen Crater hosts 82 square kilometers of carbon dioxide cold traps where temperatures remain below 60 K. These areas potentially contain solid carbon dioxide, making them possible high-priority target sites for future landed missions. Around the perimeter, Amundsen overlaps a smaller crater formation to the northwest, attaches to Nobile on its western rim and Hédervári on its northern rim, and sits near Scott to the northwest and Faustini to the south.