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The Medusa Fossae formation on Mars

29 March 2005

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This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows part of the Medusa Fossae formation and adjacent areas at the highland-lowland boundary on Mars. This perspective view, looking south-east, is calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels.

The HRSC obtained this image during orbit 917 with a resolution of approximately 13 metres per pixel. It shows an area located at about 5º South and 213º East.

The Medusa Fossae formation is an extensive unit of enigmatic origin found near the Martian ‘highland-lowland dichotomy boundary’ between the Tharsis and Elysium centres of volcanic activity.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

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This black and white image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows part of the Medusa Fossae formation and adjacent areas at the highland-lowland boundary on Mars.

The HRSC obtained this image during orbit 917 with a resolution of approximately 13 metres per pixel. It shows an area located at about 5º South and 213º East. The Medusa Fossae formation is an extensive unit of enigmatic origin found near the Martian ‘highland-lowland dichotomy boundary’ between the Tharsis and Elysium centres of volcanic activity.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

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Medusa Fossae perspective view looking south-west

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HI-RES JPEG (Size: 6468 kb)

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This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows part of the Medusa Fossae formation and adjacent areas at the highland-lowland boundary on Mars. This perspective view, looking south-west, is calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels.

The HRSC obtained this image during orbit 917 with a resolution of approximately 13 metres per pixel. It shows an area located at about 5º South and 213º East.

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 6871 kb)

HI-RES TIF (Size: 27 269 kb)

The HRSC obtained this image during orbit 917 with a resolution of approximately 13 metres per pixel. It shows an area located at about 5º South and 213º East. The colour image is derived from the three HRSC colour channels. The Medusa Fossae formation is an extensive unit of enigmatic origin found near the Martian ‘highland-lowland dichotomy boundary’ between the Tharsis and Elysium centres of volcanic activity.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

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Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 2229 kb)

HI-RES TIF (Size: 24 319 kb)

This anaglyph image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows part of the Medusa Fossae formation and adjacent areas at the highland-lowland boundary on Mars.

The HRSC obtained this image during orbit 917 with a resolution of approximately 13 metres per pixel. It shows an area located at about 5º South and 213º East. The anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel. The Medusa Fossae formation is an extensive unit of enigmatic origin found near the Martian ‘highland-lowland dichotomy boundary’ between the Tharsis and Elysium centres of volcanic activity.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Detail 1:

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This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows a detail of the Medusa Fossae formation. Here the volcanic plateau fed by the southernmost Tharsis Montes volcano Arsia Mons, is dissected by several valleys which were most likely carved by running water. Here the Senus Vallis is shown in detail as an example where the latest-stage inner channel is still visible.

The HRSC obtained this image during orbit 917 with a resolution of approximately 13 metres per pixel. It shows an area located at about 5º South and 213º East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Detail 2:

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This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows a detail of the Medusa Fossae formation. This is the mouth of Abus Vallis, a channel of the same type as in Detail 1. Here the walls are too steep or the valley too narrow to look down to the bottom of the channel due to insolation and shading of the image, but the remains of the last stage of water activity can be traced as a small channel at the floor of the lowland plain. Additionally the emplacement of pyroclastic flows is visible in this detail. It shows that the action of water erosion ended before the emplacement of the pyroclastic flow.

Detail 3:

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This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows a detail of the Medusa Fossae formation. An impact crater is the youngest feature of the ‘stratigraphic’ sequence (layers of rocks produced over time) which can be observed in this image. This crater has a well preserved ejecta blanket with a ‘lobate’ (lobe-like) appearance, which is believed to indicate the presence of water or water ice in the impacted target. As a crater forms on a flat surface, it expands in a circular fashion. Due to the topography of the impact site the shape of the crater during expansion was disturbed by the walls of the plateau and resulted in an asymmetrical shape. The distribution of ejecta, resembling the wings of a butterfly, is due to a non-vertical impact (less than 45 degrees).

Detail 4:

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This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows a detail of the Medusa Fossae formation. The Amazonis Sulci, with its ridges and grooves, appears to be wind-sculpted. The lack of craters superposing this surface indicates that wind erosion has been the latest stage of eroding processes acting here.

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