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A Meandering Channel on Hellas' Rim

July 15, 2016
The central portion of this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft features a mildly-winding depression carved by water. Helas basin was likely formed around four billion years ago by a giant asteroid or comet impact.

The central portion of this image features a mildly-winding depression that was carved by water, likely around four billion years ago shortly after the Hellas basin formed following a giant asteroid or comet impact.

Water would have flowed from the uplands (to the east) and drained into the low-lying basin, carving river channels as it flowed. The gentle curves-called "meanders" by geomorphologists-imply that this paleoriver carried lots of sediment along with it, depositing it into Hellas.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

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