JavaScript is required
JPL Logo
Image

South Polar Hills

Jan. 28, 2006
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a summer scene from the south polar region of Mars. The circular feature in the northeast (upper right) corner of the image is an old meteor impact crater that has been partially filled and buried.

28 January 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a summer scene from the south polar region of Mars. The circular feature in the northeast (upper right) corner of the image is an old meteor impact crater that has been partially filled and buried. The cone-shaped hill that occurs within the crater on its east (right) side is a remnant of material that once covered and completely buried the crater. Perhaps beneath the surfaces in the rest of the image there are other craters that have been filled and buried such that we cannot know, from an image, that they ever existed. The theme of filled, buried, and exhumed craters is one that repeats itself -- over and over again -- all over Mars.

Location near: 80.3°S, 286.1°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Summer

Keep Exploring