Cerberus is a large "dark spot" (an albedo feature) located on Mars and named after the mythical dog

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 ...

. The arcuate (curved) markings in the upper right are in the

Amazonis 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 pl ...

plains and may be sand drifts. The volcano

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 o ...

, 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 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 ...

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 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 de ...

lie both over and under lavas, suggesting the deposition of this formation was contemporaneous with volcanism. Statistics of small craters indicate lavas in the western Cerberus plains may be less than a million years old, but the model isochrons may be unreliable if the small crater population is dominated by secondary craters (craters formed by material ejected from larger impacts). Images showing no large craters with diameters larger than 500 meters superimposed on western Cerberus plains lavas indicate the same surface is younger than 49 Ma (million years).

Sources

* * * {{GPN, 1107, Cerberus

External links

Google Mars
- zoomable map centered on Cerberus Albedo features on Mars

See also

Sources

External links