Sirenum Fossae

Scaled Image

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

About this image

The linear feature in this VIS image is part of Sirenum Fossae. The linear feature is a tectonic graben. Graben are formed by extension of the crust and faulting. When large amounts of pressure or tension are applied to rocks on timescales that are fast enough that the rock cannot respond by deforming, the rock breaks along faults. In the case of a graben, two parallel faults are formed by extension of the crust and the rock in between the faults drops downward into the space created by the extension. The graben in this THEMIS image is aligned trending from north-northeast to south-southwest. Because the faults defining the graben are formed perpendicular to the direction of the applied stress, we know that extensional forces were pulling the crust apart in the west-northwest/east-southeast direction. The Sirenum Fossae graben are 2735km (1700 miles) long and stretch from eastern Terra Sirenum into western Daedalia Planum.

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images. 

Context

Image ID: 
V91854003 (View data in Mars Image Explorer)
-35.8913
195.821
91854
2022-08-29 12:46
Thu, 2022-12-22
VIS
512 pixels (17 km)
1824 pixels (62 km)
0.034412 km/pixel
0.0347341 km/pixel

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