Compounded Fractures

This VIS image taken in the region east of Alba Patera shows the complex relations that can occur in regions of multiple structural events. There are fractures and graben in this area that intersect at multiple angles. The relative age of the various features can be determined using cross-cutting relationships. This idea dictates that when one feature or structure modifies another, i.e. a crater modifies a fracture (as on the left side of this image), the crater is younger than the fracture.