Tag Archives: lava tubes

HiRISE: Intersecting channels near Olympica Fossae

This complicated area contains various types of channels, pits and fractures. We can determine the relative ages of the pits and channels based on which features cross-cut others. Older channels appear smooth-edged and shallow. Younger channels and pits are deeper … Continue reading

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THEMIS: Olympica Fossae’s tangled channels

THEMIS Image of the Day, July 15, 2016. Located on the extensive lava plains between Olympus Mons and Alba Mons, these complex intersecting valleys were created by lava flow. Volcanic flows occurred both along the surface and in buried lava … Continue reading

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THEMIS: Phlegethon Catena

THEMIS Image of the Day, April 1, 2016. Today’s VIS image shows part of Phlegethon Catena. The linear features are created by faulting. Paired faults with down dropped block of material are called graben and are formed due to tectonic … Continue reading

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HiRISE: Lava flow near base of Olympus Mons

This image shows a lava channel, which lies just to the east of the largest volcano in the solar system: Olympus Mons. The channel appears to be discontinuous, meaning it disappears several times throughout its length, but in fact, it … Continue reading

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HiRISE: The busy flank of Arsia Mons

This observation shows an incredible diversity of ancient lava tubes and impact craters filled with sediment on the flank of Arsia Mons. The rationale for this observation is to get a better look at those lava tubes… [More at link]

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Against the current with lava flows

Primeval lava flows formed the massive canyons and gorge systems on Mars. Water, by contrast, was far too scarce on the Red Planet to have cut these gigantic valleys into the landscape. This is the conclusion of several years of … Continue reading

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THEMIS image: Ascraeus Mons

THEMIS Image of the Day, January 30, 2014. Today’s image shows a different portion of the collapse features located on the northern flank of Ascraeus Mons.

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THEMIS image: Ascraeus Mons

THEMIS Image of the Day, January 29, 2014. The pits, fractures and channel-like features in this image are located on the northern flank of Ascraeus Mons. Most of these features were created by collapse into lava tubes that existed below the … Continue reading

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Microbes in a cave, eating rock

Life abounds on Earth, where it lives in every possible ecological niche, including deep in the crust. This comes from biology’s reproductive drive plus natural selection’s creativity in matching organisms’ needs with what nature provides. But what about Mars, where … Continue reading

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