Hephaestus Fossae

Scaled Image

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

About this image

This VIS image shows part of Hephaestus Fossae. Hephaestus Fossae is a complex channel system in Utopia Planitia near Elysium Mons. It has been proposed that the channel formed by the release of melted subsurface ice during the impact event that created the crater just off the left side of the image - only the ejecta is seen in this image. The crater is fairly young, as there is only minimal modification of the crater floor. While it appears that the crater sits of top of the channel, the creation of the crater may have also created the channel. The impact event would have caused subsurface heating, melting any subsurface ice in the region which would have created surface flow to form the channel. Additionally, the nearby Elysium volcanic center created subsurface heating that may have played a part in creating both Hephaestus Fossae and Hebrus Valles to the north.

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

Context

Image ID: 
V94645003 (View data in Mars Image Explorer)
17.6141
126.055
94645
2023-04-16 09:02
Fri, 2023-08-04
VIS
512 pixels (18 km)
1824 pixels (66 km)
0.036724 km/pixel
0.0370483 km/pixel

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