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Cerberus (Martian Albedo Feature)
Cerberus is a large "dark spot" (an albedo feature) located on Mars and named after the mythical dog Cerberus. The arcuate (curved) markings in the upper right are in the Amazonis plains and may be sand drifts. The volcano Elysium Mons, a yellow area north of Cerberus, has several channels radiating from its flanks. The three bright spots, upper left, are volcanoes partially veiled by thin clouds. High resolution images show the bulk of the Cerberus plains is covered by platy-ridged and inflated lavas, which are interpreted as insulated sheet flows. Eastern Cerberus plains lavas originate at Cerberus Fossae fissures and shields. Some flows extend for 2000 km through Marte Vallis into Amazonis Planitia. The Athabasca Valles are both incised into pristine lavas and embayed by pristine lavas, indicating that Athabascan fluvial events were contemporaneous with volcanic eruptions. Deposits of the Medusae Fossae Formation lie both over and under lavas, suggesting the deposition o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cerberus Hemisphere
Cerberus is a large "dark spot" (an albedo feature) located on Mars and named after the mythical dog Cerberus. The arcuate (curved) markings in the upper right are in the Amazonis plains and may be sand drifts. The volcano Elysium Mons, a yellow area north of Cerberus, has several channels radiating from its flanks. The three bright spots, upper left, are volcanoes partially veiled by thin clouds. High resolution images show the bulk of the Cerberus plains is covered by platy-ridged and inflated lavas, which are interpreted as insulated sheet flows. Eastern Cerberus plains lavas originate at Cerberus Fossae fissures and shields. Some flows extend for 2000 km through Marte Vallis into Amazonis Planitia. The Athabasca Valles are both incised into pristine lavas and embayed by pristine lavas, indicating that Athabascan fluvial events were contemporaneous with volcanic eruptions. Deposits of the Medusae Fossae Formation lie both over and under lavas, suggesting the deposition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albedo Feature
An albedo feature is a large area on the surface of a planet (or other Solar System body) which shows a contrast in brightness or darkness (albedo) with adjacent areas. Historically, albedo features were the first (and usually only) features to be seen and named on Mars and Mercury. Early classical maps (such as those of Schiaparelli and Antoniadi) showed only albedo features, and it was not until the arrival of space probes that other surface features such as craters could be seen. On bodies other than Mars and Mercury, an albedo feature is sometimes called a regio. On bodies with a very thick atmosphere like Venus or Titan, permanent albedo features cannot be seen using ordinary optical telescopes because the surface is not visible, and only clouds and other transient atmospheric phenomena are seen. The '' Cassini–Huygens'' probe observed multiple albedo features on Titan after its arrival in Saturn's orbit in 2004. The first albedo feature ever seen on another plane ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cerberus
In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and was usually described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from multiple parts of his body. Cerberus is primarily known for his capture by Heracles, the last of Heracles' twelve labours. Descriptions Descriptions of Cerberus vary, including the number of his heads. Cerberus was usually three-headed, though not always. Cerberus had several multi-headed relatives. His father was the multi snake-headed Typhon, and Cerberus was the brother of three other multi-headed monsters, the multi-snake-headed Lernaean Hydra; Orthrus, the two-headed dog who guarded the Cattle of Geryon; and the Chimera, who had three heads: that of a lion, a goat, and a snake. And, like these close relatives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amazonis Planitia
Amazonis Planitia (, Latin ''Amāzŏnis'') is one of the smoothest plains on Mars. It is located between the Tharsis and Elysium volcanic provinces, to the west of Olympus Mons, in the Amazonis and Memnonia quadrangles, centered at . The plain's topography exhibits extremely smooth features at several different lengths of scale. A large part of the Medusae Fossae Formation lies in Amazonis Planitia. Its name derives from one of the classical albedo features observed by early astronomers, which was in turn named after the Amazons, a mythical race of warrior women. Age and composition Only approximately 100 million years old, these plains provide some of the fewest sedimentary layers impeding viewing of the Martian terrain, and closely resemble the composition of Earth's Iceland. Formed by free-flowing lava across great plains, Amazonis has been described by William Hartmann as a "bright dusty volcanic desert crossed by many fresh-looking lava flows." Amazonis has become the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elysium Mons
Elysium Mons is a volcano on Mars located in the volcanic province Elysium, at , in the Martian eastern hemisphere. It stands about above its base, and about above the Martian ''datum'', making it the third tallest Martian mountain in terms of relief and the fourth highest in elevation. Its diameter is about , with a summit caldera about across. It is flanked by the smaller volcanoes Hecates Tholus to the northeast, and Albor Tholus to the southeast. Discovery Elysium Mons was discovered in 1972 in images returned by the Mariner 9 orbiter. Terrestrial analog The terrestrial volcano Emi Koussi (in Chad) has been studied as an analog of Elysium Mons. The two shield volcanoes have summit calderas of similar size, but Elysium Mons is 3.5 times larger in diameter and 6 times higher than its counterpart on Earth. Possible source of nakhlites A 6.5 km diameter crater at 29.674 N, 130.799 E, in the volcanic plains to the northwest of Elysium Mons has been identified as a possibl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cerberus Fossae
The Cerberus Fossae are a series of semi-parallel fissures on Mars formed by faults which pulled the crust apart in the Cerberus region. They are 1235 km across and centered at 11.28 °N and 166.37 °E. Their northernmost latitude is 16.16 °N and their southernmost latitude 6.23 °N. Their easternmost and westernmost longitudes are 174.72 °E and 154.43 °E, respectively. They can be seen in the Elysium quadrangle. Ripples seen at the bottom of the faults are sand blown by the wind. Numerical modeling of the forces in the crust of Mars suggest that the underlying cause for the faulting is the deformation caused by the Tharsis volcanoes to the east. The faults are quite young, cutting through pre-existing features such as the hills of the Tartarus Montes and the lava apron southeast of Elysium Mons. The formation of the fossae was suspected to have released pressurized underground water, previously confined by the cryosphere, with flow rates up to 2 × 106 m3s−1, leadin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marte Vallis
Marte Vallis is a valley in the Amazonis quadrangle of Mars, located at 15 North and 176.5 West. It is 185 km long and was named for the Spanish word for "Mars". It has been identified as an outflow channel, carved in the geological past by catastrophic release of water from aquifers beneath the Martian surface. The surface material is thought to have been created out of 'a'ā and pāhoehoe lava flows from the Elysium volcanic province in the west. Marte Vallis is the site of the first discovery of columnar jointing on Mars.Milazzo, M.P., Keszthelyi, L.P., Jaeger, W.L. Rosiek, M., Mattson, S., Verba, C., Beyer, R.A., Geissler, P.E., McEwen, A.S., and the HiRISE Team. (2009) Discovery of columnar jointing on Mars. Geology. 37(2), 171–174Abstract/ref> Columnar jointing often forms when basalt lava cools.Bates, R. and J. Jackson (eds.) 1976. Dictionary of Geological Terms. Doubleday, New York. File:Marte Vallis Island.JPG, Streamlined Island in Marte Vallis, as se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athabasca Valles
The Athabasca Valles are a late Amazonian-period outflow channel system in the central Elysium Planitia region of Mars, located to the south of the Elysium Rise. They are part of a network of outflow channels in this region that are understood to emanate from large fissures in the Martian surface rather than the chaos terrains that source the circum- Chryse outflow channels. The Athabasca Valles in particular emanate from one of the Cerberus Fossae fissures and flow downstream to the southwest, constrained to the south by a wrinkle ridge for over 100 km, before debouching into the Cerberus Palus volcanic plain. The Athabasca Valles are widely understood to be the youngest outflow channel system on the planet. Although researchers generally agree that the valley was formed by the catastrophic outpouring from the southernmost Cerberus Fossae fissure, the scientific community has not reached a consensus on the precise formation mechanism behind the Athabasca Valles - both i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medusae Fossae Formation
The Medusae Fossae Formation is a large geological formation of probable volcanic origin on the planet Mars. It is named for the Medusa of Greek mythology. "Fossae" is Latin for "trenches". The formation is a collection of soft, easily eroded deposits that extends discontinuously for more than 5,000 km along the equator of Mars. Its roughly-shaped regions extend from just south of Olympus Mons to Apollinaris Patera, with a smaller additional region closer to Gale Crater. The total area of the formation is equal to 20% the size of the continental United States. It is divided into three subunits (members) that are all considered to be of Amazonian age, the youngest era in martian geological history. The formation straddles the highland - lowland boundary near the Tharsis and Elysium volcanic areas, and extends across five quadrangles: Amazonis, Tharsis, Memnonia, Elysium, and Aeolis. Origin and age The origin of the formation is unknown, but many theories have been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crater Counting
Crater counting is a method for estimating the age of a planet's surface based upon the assumptions that when a piece of planetary surface is new, then it has no impact craters; impact craters accumulate after that at a rate that is assumed known. Consequently, counting how many craters of various sizes there are in a given area allows determining how long they have accumulated and, consequently, how long ago the surface has formed. The method has been calibrated using the ages obtained by radiometric dating of samples returned from the Moon by the Luna and Apollo missions. It has been used to estimate the age of areas on Mars and other planets that were covered by lava flows, on the Moon of areas covered by giant mares, and how long ago areas on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn flooded with new ice. Crater counting and secondary craters The crater counting method requires the presence of independent craters. Independent craters represent the primary impact point on a planets su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geography Of Mars
Areography, also known as the geography of Mars, is a subfield of planetary science that entails the delineation and characterization of regions on Mars. Areography is mainly focused on what is called physical geography on Earth; that is the distribution of physical features across Mars and their cartographic representations. History The first detailed observations of Mars were from ground-based telescopes. The history of these observations are marked by the oppositions of Mars, when the planet is closest to Earth and hence is most easily visible, which occur every couple of years. Even more notable are the perihelic oppositions of Mars which occur approximately every 16 years, and are distinguished because Mars is closest to earth and Jupiter perihelion making it even closer to Earth. In September 1877, (a perihelic opposition of Mars occurred on September 5), Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli published the first detailed map of Mars. These maps notably contained feat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
