The term
impact structure is closely related to the terms
impact crater and
meteorite impact crater, and is used in cases in which erosion or burial has destroyed or masked the original topographic feature with which one normally associates the term
crater. This is the fate of almost all old impact craters on
Earth, unlike the ancient pristine craters preserved on the
Moon and other geologically inactive rocky bodies with old surfaces in the
Solar System. Impact structure is synonymous with the less commonly used term
astrobleme meaning "star wound".