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Volcanic ash in Meridiani Planum
12 May 2010
| Meridiani Planum, at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars, lies between the volcanic Tharsis Region to the west and the low-lying Hellas Planitia impact basin to the south-east. Through a telescope, Meridiani Planum is a striking, dark feature, close to the martian equator. It extends 127 km by 63 km and covers an area of roughly 8000 sq km, about the size of Cyprus. This dark material probably resembles volcanic ash, which is predominantly composed of minerals such as pyroxene and olivine.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) | |  |  | |
| | | | | Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars. The region lies at about 2°N/352°E and lies between the volcanic Tharsis Region to the west and the low-lying Hellas Planitia impact basin to the south-east. It extends 127 km by 63 km and covers an area of roughly 8000 sq km, which is about the size of Cyprus.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)/MOLA | | | | |
| | | | | Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars. In the centre of the almost 50-km-wide impact crater is dark material, most likely resembling volcanic ash. Poking through the dark covering are small mounds, probably made of more resistant material. The softer material around them has been eroded and blown out of the crater by north-easterly winds and now lies outside the crater.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) | | | | |
| | | | | Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars. In the centre of the image is an impact crater almost 50 km across, covered in dark material that resembles volcanic ash. Poking through the dark covering are small mounds, probably made of more resistant material. The softer material around them has been eroded and blown out of the crater by north-easterly winds and now lies outside the crater, forming dark streaks at the top left of the image.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) | | | | |
| | | | | Meridiani Planum, at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars, shows five remarkable features. The impact crater in box 1 is 50 km wide and covered in dark material, likely to be volcanic ash. This has been blown out of the crater by north-easterly winds to create the dark markings in box 2, and the patch in box 4. In the lee of high ridges, more volcanic ash has accumulated in box 5. The old crater in box 3 is covered in lighter material.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) | | | | |
| | | | | Elevation of the Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars. The region lies at about 2°N/352°E and lies between the volcanic Tharsis Region to the west and the low-lying Hellas Planitia impact basin to the south-east. It extends 127 km by 63 km and covers an area of roughly 8000 sq km, which is about the size of Cyprus. This image was created using a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) obtained from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft. Elevation data from the DTM is colour-coded: purple indicates the lowest-lying regions and beige the higher elevations. The scale is in metres.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) | | | | |
| | | | | Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars. It lies between the volcanic Tharsis Region to the west and the low-lying Hellas Planitia impact basin to the south-east. Through a telescope, Meridiani Planum is a striking, dark feature, close to the martian equator. It extends 127 km by 63 km and covers an area of roughly 8000 sq km, similar in size to Cyprus. The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), onboard ESA’s Mars Express, took this image. It was obtained on 1 September 2005, during orbit 2097, and possesses a resolution of approximately 13 metres per pixel. The image was derived from the HRSC nadir channel, which provides the highest detail of all the channels.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) | | | | |
| | | | | Three craters stretch across the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. The nearest is an old crater, almost worn away. It is 34 km across. The second is covered in dark material, most likely a substance resembling volcanic ash. It is 50 km wide. The third crater, more distant, is smaller at 15 km wide. Again it possesses a dark floor, perhaps because material from the largest crater has been blown out by the wind and has settled in the smallest one.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) | | | | |
| | | | | Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars. In the centre of the image is an impact crater almost 50 km across, covered in dark material that resembles volcanic ash. Poking through the dark covering are small mounds, probably made of more resistant material. The softer material around them has been eroded and blown out of the crater by north-easterly winds and now lies outside the crater, forming dark streaks at the bottom left of the image.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) | | | | |
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