Cerberus Fossae

Today’s VIS image shows part of Cerberus Fossae. These large graben cut across the Tartarus Montes in Elysium Planitia. A graben forms when large blocks of material slide downward between paired faults in regions of extensional stresses. The straight sides and uniform depths are indications that these are tectonic features rather than channels caused by fluid erosion. Cerberus Fossae graben are 1235 km long, approximately the distance between Los Angeles, California and Albuquerque, New Mexico.