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Fretted Terrain Valley

May 4, 2005
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the floor of a fretted terrain valley in the Coloe Fossae region of Mars. Valleys found at north middle latitudes often have odd linear features on them. This picture shows a close-up of one such closed valley.

4 May 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the floor of a fretted terrain valley in the Coloe Fossae region. Valleys found at north middle latitudes, such as this one, often have odd linear features on them. When seen at much lower resolution by the Viking Orbiters in the late 1970s, investigators assumed that the linear features indicated flow of ice or ice-rich debris, as might occur in a glacier or rock glacier. MOC images show little evidence to support the notion that these materials flow; indeed, similar ridges occur in closed valleys, from which nothing can flow. This picture shows a close-up of one such closed valley.

Location near: 35.3°N, 303.1°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Summer

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