Mangala Fossae

This VIS image shows the intersection of Mangala Fossae and an impact crater. Mangal Fossae is a long linear depression called a graben, and was formed due to extensional tectonic stresses. In this image the graben crosses through a crater. Impact crater formation changes the surface and near surface materials, usually creating much stronger rocks due to the melting of the preexisting surface. The extensional stresses forming the graben interacted with this material and produced the jumble of depressions we see today within the crater.