Mars Geological Features

High-resolution images from Mars showcasing diverse geological formations and textures, offering insights into the planet's surface and history.

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$The Tharsis region of Mars is an immense region of volcanos, lava flows, and tectonic faulting. The entire area is a topographic bulge, with extensional stresses. The extension allowed magma to rise to the surface, creating the largest areal (Alba Mons) and tallest (Olympus Mons) volcanoes in the solar system. The extension also created faults and fractures. This VIS image shows some of the tectonic faults in the region. Orbit Number 81214 Latitude 10.0823 Longitude 240.355 Instrument VIS Captured 2020-04-05 11 31$

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Terra Sabaea Crater. Today's VIS image shows an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea. The central peak of the crater has been surrounded by a deposit of material that is easily eroded, as shown by the wind eroded features on the south side of the deposit. Several craters in this region have large deposits of materials on the crater floor. These deposits postdate the formation of the craters, and have themselves by eroded over time. It is very likely that wind played a roll in the deposition of materials as well as the subsequent erosion. Orbit Number 93875 Latitude 7.99639 Longitude 20.9896 Instrument VIS Captured 2023-02-11 23 23 https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25909

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$This complex region of lava flows and fracturing is located at the eastern margin of the Tharsis Volcanic Complex$

$Ius Chasma. Ius Chasma is at the western end of Valles Marineris, south of Tithonium Chasma. Valles Marineris is over 4000 kilometers long, almost as wide as the United States. Ius Chasma is almost 850 kilometers long (528 miles), 120 kilometers wide and over 8 kilometers deep. In comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is about 175 kilometers long, 30 kilometers wide, and only 2 kilometers deep. The canyons of Valles Marineris were formed by extensive fracturing and pulling apart of the crust during the uplift of the vast Tharsis plateau. Landslides have enlarged the canyon walls and created deposits on the canyon floor. Weathering of the surface and influx of dust and sand have modified the canyon floor, both creating and modifying layered materials. There are many features that indicate flowing and standing water played a part in the chasma formation. The rugged floor of Ius Chasma in this image is the result of many large landslides. Orbit Number 91839 Latitude -7.09251 Longitude 2$

$This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey highlights the fractured region of a portion of Cydonai Mensae.$

$One of the many branches of the Mangala Vallis channel system is seen in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The water that likely carved the channels emerged from a huge graben or fracture almost 1000 km to the south.$