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Tectonic, Volcanic and Fluvial Activity?

Dec. 22, 2022
This image acquired on August 29, 2022 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows two cross-cutting depressions that may have been formed by the collapse of weak terrain along pre-existing faults.

This image shows two cross-cutting depressions that may have been formed by the collapse of weak terrain along pre-existing faults. These faults are associated with the release of volcanic material and/or liquid water.

Sinuous channels are visible emanating from the large vent toward the northwest. Some of these channels transition between positive-relief and negative-relief, suggesting they were once filled with erosion-resistant material. Liquid water is known to produce similar features on Earth.

The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 55.6 centimeters [21.9 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 167 centimeters [65.7 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.

This is a stereo pair with ESP_075923_2040.

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

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