Hooke Crater and Argyre Planitia

Color-coded topography map of a region of the Argyre basin, featuring Hooke crater and part of the floor of the basin known as Argyre Planitia. White and red show the highest terrains, while blue and purple show the deepest. The image is based on a digital terrain model of the region, from which the topography of the landscape can be derived. The region clearly slopes to the south (left).

The image was acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express on 20 April 2014 during orbit 13,082. The ground resolution is about 63 m per pixel. Hooke crater is located at about 46°S / 316°E. North is right and East is down.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Impact Craters in Hellas Planitia

Scarring the southern highlands of Mars is one of the Solar System’s largest impact basins: Hellas, with a diameter of 2300 km and a depth of over 7 km.

Hellas is thought to have formed between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years ago, when a large asteroid hit the surface of Mars. Since its formation, Hellas has been subject to modification by the action of wind, ice, water and volcanic activity.

Impact craters have also since pock-marked this vast basin floor, two of which are the focus of this image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 17 December 2013. The ground resolution is about 15 meters per pixel.

These craters lie in the deepest, western portion of Hellas, and such a clear view is unusual because dust clouds typically obscure the basin floor. Indeed, this region seems to be covered by a thick blanket of dust.

The larger of the two craters is about 25 km across. A flow of material appears to have been transported from the top left of the scene and into the crater. Zooming in to the smooth mound and the area immediately around it reveals interesting textures that likely resulted from this flow.

Flow features are also seen outside of the craters, and in particular, at the center left of the image near the top of the frame. Material also seems to have cascaded from the larger crater’s rim and into a neighboring smaller crater, at the far left of the image.

The morphology of many features in the Hellas Basin and its surroundings strongly suggests the presence of ice and glaciers.

For example, in the foreground and around the crater rim, polygons of patterned ground are visible which indicates the presence of water – this pattern occurs when fine grained and porous wet soil freezes.

Indeed, in the deepest parts of the basin, the atmospheric pressure is about 89% higher than at the surface, which may even offer conditions suitable for water. Radar images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest that some craters in Hellas might contain water-ice glaciers several hundred meters thick, buried under layers of dust.

See more images from this region at the DLR website and in this previous ESA release.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Perspective View of Hellespontus Montes

Perspective view of Hellespontus Montes, a rocky ridge on the western rim of the vast Hellas basin in the southern hemisphere of Mars.

The foreground shows a close-up of a crater with a particularly interesting feature: wrinkles that form a roughly concentric pattern, with ever-smaller arcs towards the structure’s center. This type of feature is known as ‘concentric crater fill’, and is thought to be associated with snowfall and freezing cycles in an earlier and wetter period of martian history.

Once inside the crater, the snow was trapped and soon covered by surface dust, before compacting to form ice. The number of concentric lines indicate many cycles of this process and it is possible that ice may be hidden beneath just tens of meters of surface debris in these craters.

The image was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 13 January 2014 (orbit 12,750). The center of the associated main color image is located at approximately 41°S/45°E.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Hellespontus Montes

This view shows a portion of the western rim of the vast Hellas basin in the southern hemisphere of Mars. The crater shown in the upper left is on the periphery of the Hellas basin. The edge of the Hellas basin is traced by a string of rocky peaks known as the Hellespontus Montes, which runs roughly half way through the image from the edge of the large crater towards the right hand side of the scene. Many other interesting features can be seen: intricate valleys, dune fields and unusual deposits of dust-covered ice inside smaller craters.

The image was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 13 January 2014 (orbit 12,750). The center of the image is located at approximately 41°S/45°E, in the southern highlands of Mars. The image resolution is roughly 17 m per pixel. North is to the right, east is up.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Note: For more information, see Hellespontus Montes in Context, Hellespontus Montes in 3D, and Hellespontus Montes Topography.

Rabe Crater

Rabe Crater is a 108 km-wide impact crater with an intricately shaped dune field. The dune material likely comprises locally eroded sediments that have been shaped by prevailing winds. Other smaller craters in the region also contain these dark deposits. One relatively young and deep crater can be seen in the upper left; as well as the dark material, channels and grooves are clearly visible in its crater walls.

The images used for this mosaic were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 7 December 2005 (orbit 2441) and 9 January 2014 (orbit 12736). The scene is located at 35°E/44°S, about 320 km west of the giant Hellas impact basin in the southern highlands of Mars. The image resolution is about 15 m per pixel.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Note: For more information, see Rabe Crater Context, Rabe Crater Topography, and Rabe Crater 3D.

Rabe Crater

Rabe Crater is a 108 km-wide impact crater with an intricately shaped dune field. The dune material likely comprises locally eroded sediments that have been shaped by prevailing winds. Other smaller craters in the region also contain these dark deposits. One relatively young and deep crater can be seen in the upper left; as well as the dark material, channels and grooves are clearly visible in its crater walls.

The images used for this mosaic were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 7 December 2005 (orbit 2441) and 9 January 2014 (orbit 12736). The scene is located at 35°E/44°S, about 320 km west of the giant Hellas impact basin in the southern highlands of Mars. The image resolution is about 15 m per pixel.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Phobos and Jupiter Conjunction

Even though it may only be a lump of porous rock, Phobos isn’t shy about hogging the limelight in this sequence taken by ESA’s Mars Express. These three images show Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons, darting across the frame in front of Jupiter, visible as the pale dot in the center. From right to left, the frames show snapshots before, during and after the small moon’s journey in front of the gas giant.

Observed on 1 June 2011, this unusual alignment is known as a conjunction, and occurs when two Solar System bodies appear to pass close to one another on the sky. This is an optical illusion caused by our perspective–when these pictures were taken there was a distance of almost 11,400 km between the spacecraft and Phobos, and a further 529 million km to Jupiter.

These three frames are part of a set of 104 taken over a period of 68 seconds by the high-resolution stereo camera on Mars Express. Some of the images were also processed to form a video. The images and the video were originally released in June 2011.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Osuga Valles

The central portion of Osuga Valles, which has a total length of 164 km. In some places, it is 20 km wide and plunges to a depth of 900 m. It is located approximately 170 km south of Eos Chaos, which is located at the periphery in the far eastern portion of the vast Valles Marineris canyon system.

Catastrophic flooding is thought to have created the heavily eroded Osuga Valles, which displays streamlined islands and a grooved floor carved by fast-flowing water. The water flowed in a northeasterly direction (towards the bottom right in this image) and eventually drained into another region of chaotic terrain, just seen at the bottom of the image.

Several large impact craters are also seen in this scene, including the ghostly outline of an ancient, partially buried crater in the bottom center of the image.

The image was created using data acquired with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express on 7 December 2013 during orbit 12,624. The image resolution is about 17 m per pixel and the image center is at about 15ºS / 322ºE.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Note: For more information, see Osuga Valles in Context, Osuga Valles in 3D, Perspective View of Osuga Valles, and Osuga Valles Topography.

Lava Flows in Daedalia Planum

Close-up view of the two dominant lava flows that reach the foot of the highland terrain (seen at the top of the image in this orientation). The older of the two eruptions produced the smooth lava surface to the south of the island (right), which later experienced extensive faulting. The younger lava flow (left) has a rougher texture and overlies the faulted lava plain, and therefore occurred later, with some of the lava flowing into the troughs. This region was imaged by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 28 November 2013 (orbit 12,593), with a ground resolution of 14 m per pixel.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Kasei Valles - The Floodwaters of Mars

Ten years ago, on 14 January 2004, Mars Express took its very first images of Mars in color and in 3D.

To mark the occasion, the team produced a fly-through movie of the ancient flood plain Kasei Valles. The movie is based on the 67-image mosaic released as part of the ten-years-since-launch celebrations in June 2013.

The scene spans 987 km in the north–south direction, 19–36°N, and 1550 km in the east–west direction (280–310°E). It covers 1.55 million square kilometers, an area equivalent to the size of Mongolia.

Kasei Valles is one of the largest outflow channel systems on Mars, created during dramatic flood events. From source to sink, it extends some 3000 km and descends 3 km.

Kasei Valles splits into two main branches that hug a broad island of fractured terrain – Sacra Mensa – rising 2 km above the channels that swerve around it. While weaker materials succumbed to the erosive power of the fast-flowing water, this hardier outcrop has stood the test of time.

Slightly further downstream, the flood waters did their best to erase the 100 km-wide Sharonov crater, crumpling its walls to the south. Around Sharonov many small streamlined islands form teardrop shapes rising from the riverbed as water swept around these natural obstacles.

Video credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Age Estimation of Mudstone in Gale Crater

A rock in the Sheepbed mudstone deposit in the Yellowknife Bay area inside Gale Crater is the first rock on Mars ever to be dated by laboratory analysis of its ingredients. The analysis using measurements of the rock's potassium and argon content by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover yielded an estimate that it is 3.86 billion to 4.56 billion years old.

The mudstone is a sedimentary rock formed by particles that had started in rocks at higher elevations -- labelled on this image as "sediment sources" -- and washed downslope before being deposited at Yellowknife Bay.

The age measured for the rock is not the depositional age of the mudstone. Researchers calculate that it is a mixture of the ages of the mineral components delivered to the mudstone via stream transport from the crater rim and the highlands beyond, as indicated by the yellow symbols. Estimates of age based on the density of impact craters on different areas of Mars put the Gale impact and surrounding highlands in the range 3.6 billion to 4.1 billion years old, a good match to the new age estimate from laboratory analysis.

An unannotated version of the underlying image is available at PIA16475. This image combines elevation data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, image data from the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and color information from Viking Orbiter imagery.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Juventae Chasma Topography

Color-coded topography map of Juventae Chasma. White and red show the highest terrains, while blue and purple show the deepest.

The floor of Juventae Chasma sits some 5.8 km below the surrounding plateau. It is filled with sand in the southern part (left), which takes on a smooth appearance, in contrast to the northern (right) part of this image where many blocky rock fragments have slumped down from the chasma walls. Two large mounds of layered material sit inside Juventae Chasma and comprise minerals altered by water.

This region was imaged by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 4 November 2013 (orbit 12,508), with a ground resolution of 16 ms per pixel. The image center is at about 4°S / 298°E.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Note: For more information, see Juventae Chasma 3D.

Juventae Chasma Perspective

The largest layered mound in Juventae Chasma is seen here in close-up perspective view. It is about 53 km long, up to 20 km wide and rises some 3.3 km above the surrounding area, comparable to a small mountain range on Earth.

Its surface is etched with grooves carved by strong prevailing winds blowing through the chasma. Layers in the mound consist of sulphate-rich materials, an indication that the rocks have been altered by water.

The mound is a relic of at least 3 billion years of martian history and its layers were most likely built up as lake deposits over time. But ice-laden dust raining out from the atmosphere – a phenomenon observed at the poles of Mars – may also have contributed to the formation of the layers.

This region was imaged by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 4 November 2013 (orbit 12,508), with a ground resolution of 16 m per pixel. The image center is at about 4°S / 298°E.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Juventae Chasma

Intriguing mounds of light-toned layered deposits sit inside Juventae Chasma, surrounded by a bed of soft sand and dust.

The origin of the chasma is linked to faulting associated with volcanic activity more than 3 billion years ago, causing the chasma walls to collapse and slump inwards, as seen in the blocky terrain in the right-hand side of this image.

At the same time, fracturing and faulting allowed subsurface water to spill out and pool in the newly formed chasm. Observations by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show that the large mounds inside the chasma consist of sulphate-rich materials, an indication that the rocks were indeed altered by water.

The mounds contain numerous layers that were most likely built up as lake-deposits during the Chasma’s wet epoch. But ice-laden dust raining out from the atmosphere – a phenomenon observed at the poles of Mars – may also have contributed to the formation of the layers.

While the water has long gone, wind erosion prevails, etching grooves into the exposed surfaces of the mounds and whipping up the surrounding dust into ripples.

The image was taken by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 4 November 2013 (orbit 12 508), with a ground resolution of 16 m per pixel. The image center is at about 4°S / 298°E.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Note: For more information, see Juventae Chasma Context.

Ismeniae Fossae Perspective

Branches in the 2 km-wide trough of Ismeniae Fossae are seen in close-up detail in this scene. Material in the channels likely derived from the walls subsequently transported by glaciers or water flowing through the region. Smaller dendritic valley systems formed by water – possibly from melting ice – are seen at the bottom left and in the upper right portion of the image. The clusters of circular to elliptical depressions in the bottom left may be either secondary impact craters from debris flung out by larger impact craters, or collapse pits caused by the sublimation of subsurface ice.

This region was imaged by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 16 June 2013 (orbit 11709), with a ground resolution of about 20 m per pixel. The scene is located at approximately 40°N / 42°E.

Photo credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Ismeniae Fossae

This scene shows a section of Ismeniae Fossae that straddles the southern highlands–northern lowlands of Mars. The 2 km-wide curvilinear trough that runs through this image contains numerous parallel grooves and ridges comprising material from the trough walls and material that has been dragged along the floor by ancient glaciers and ice-rich flows.

In the left portion of the scene the channel truncates a roughly 25 km-wide crater. Material in the crater walls has slumped down into the channel, smoothing over the grooved floor.

Around this crater, and elsewhere in Ismeniae Fossae, clusters of circular to elliptical, partially interconnected depressions are observed. These may be either secondary impact craters from debris flung out by larger impact craters, or collapse pits caused by the sublimation of subsurface ice.

The western portion of the 138 km-wide Moreux Crater is seen in the bottom right of the image. Numerous small dendritic valley systems west of the crater provide further evidence of water flowing in this region at some point in the Red Planet’s past, perhaps as water melting from the ice thought to have once covered this region.

The image was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 16 June 2013 (orbit 11709), with a ground resolution of about 20 m per pixel. The image centre is at approximately 40°N / 42°E.

Photo credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Hebes Chasma Mesa

The details of the central mesa inside Hebes Chasma are seen in close-up detail in this perspective view. A horseshoe-shaped chunk has been taken out of one side of the mound (left in this image); the material has slumped down onto the floor of the valley below. A dark patch appears to pool like spilt ink across the debris. It is most likely loose material that has slid down the walls from an intermediate layer. Melted ice could have played a role by weakening the rocks to create its flow-like appearance.

Along the side of the mound fine horizontal layering is seen. The layers likely comprise a mix of wind-blown dust and ancient lake sediments, along with remnants of the older plateau.

Photo credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Hebes Chasma Landslides

A flat-topped mesa is located in the center of Hebes Chasma and rises to a similar height as the surrounding plains. Exposed within the walls of the mesa are layers of sediments deposited by wind and water.

Numerous grooves are etched into the mountain, suggesting the material is weak and easily eroded. The walls of Hebes Chasma are also weak – a large landslide dominates the right side of this image.

Photo credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Hebes Chasma

This mosaic of Hebes Chasma is composed of eight single images taken with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express, corresponding to orbits 360 (2 May 2004), 2149 (16 September 2005), 3217 (12 July 2006), 5142 (3 January 2008), 5160 (8 January 2008), 5178 (13 January 2008), 6241 (11 November 2008), and 7237 (24 August 2009). The image center lies at about 1°S / 284°E.

Hebes Chasma is an enclosed, almost 8 km-deep trough stretching 315 km in an east–west direction and 125 km from north to south at its widest point. It sits about 300 km north of the vast Valles Marineris canyon. A flat-topped mesa is located in the center of Hebes Chasma, which was likely shaped by the action of wind and water.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Note: For more information, see Hebes Chasma 3D and Hebes Chasma Topography.

Becquerel Crater Wind-Blown Sediments

Prominent patches of wind-blown dust, possibly mixed with volcanic ash, radiate from Becquerel crater and into a neighboring crater. The streak of dust following a radial path likely traces out a gentle topographic depression, beyond the eroded rim of the neighboring old crater.

The prevailing wind direction is towards the bottom right of the image in this orientation, in the direction of the tail-like features emanating from the tiny craters. Although small, the crater rims influence wind flow over the crater such that the material immediately downwind of the crater remains undisturbed in comparison to the surrounding plains.

Becquerel crater and its immediate surrounds were imaged during four orbits of Mars Express around the Red Planet: on 22 July 2006 (orbit 3253), and 26 February, 2 and 7 March 2008, corresponding to orbits 5332, 5350 and 5368, respectively. Becquerel Crater lies within Arabia Terra, at about 22°N/352°E.

Photo credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)