Mars Photo of the Day - Mar 5 2012

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Today's Image of Mars shows a segment of Olympica Fossae, as taken by HiRISE.

Olympica Fossae is a 420km long set of troughs, or fossae, in the Tharsis Quadrangle on Mars. Fossae are created when the crust stretches and fractures along two parallel faults. When this happens the area between the two faults sinks down and forms a trough.

Scientists speculate that at one point in the Martian past the troughs of Olympica Fossae served as outflow channels, redirecting floods of water, while at another point they served as channels for lava. This is possible because Mars has experienced many different climates over the past few billion years.

Because HiRISE has yet to caption this image, clicking on it will take you to a map of Tharsis Quadrangle showcased by Mars Travel.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 3 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of the floor of the trough Tithonium Chasma, located in Valles Marineris, a large canyon system on Mars. As discussed in yesterday's Mars Photo of the Day, scientists are interested in these canyon systems because they provide a view of older material beneath the surface, which can provide insight into the past climate of Mars and changes that occurred. 

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's CRISM has determined that sulfates and iron oxides are present in the general region in the form of layered deposits. This implies the past existence of water because sulfates are typically formed in the presence of water.

This photo links to the original captioned photo by HiRISE.

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