Hephaestus Fossae, Craters and channels in Hephaestus Fossae |
Hephaestus Fossae, Craters and channels in Hephaestus Fossae |
Guest_Sunspot_* |
Jun 5 2009, 11:24 AM
Post
#1
|
Guests |
More great views of Mars from Mars Express
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMSKCVTGVF_index_0.html "The High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has obtained images of Hephaestus Fossae, a region on Mars dotted with craters and channel systems." |
|
|
Jun 5 2009, 01:38 PM
Post
#2
|
||
Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
Very very cool! There's some really neat stuff going in in the upper right where it looks like the fluid flowed along, punched through into a crack and just soaked into the surface! (Note where the channel hits a crack and the walls are no longer evident on what should have been the downstream side of the gap.) BTW, the tapered forms on the left side of the crater seem to indicate that the surface flow was running left to right (downgradient) before the impact, and that the impact just got lucky and smacked into the middle of the channel. I think the main channel existed before the impact. (But the impact generated another round of fluid stuff as seen in the debris apron) I really love this image. Here's my take on what could be going on: (And yes, past surface flow on a sediment-covered glacier seems like a possibility) -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
|
|
|
||
Jun 5 2009, 04:00 PM
Post
#3
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 160 Joined: 4-July 05 From: Huntington Beach, CA, USA Member No.: 429 |
That's quite a splat! The crater looks similar to Iazu crater south of Endeavor and to many craters in the northern plains. Can it be that those craters were produced by impactors hitting wet soil? I guess either there is much more ejecta in such events (perhaps due to less friction), or the wet ejecta is cemented and survives erosion better than dry ejecta.
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 5th June 2024 - 02:14 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |