Elysium Planitia, located in the

Elysium Elysium (, ), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields ( grc, Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, ''Ēlýsion pedíon'') or Elysian Plains, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philos ...

and

Aeolis Aeolis (; grc, Αἰολίς, Aiolís), or Aeolia (; grc, Αἰολία, Aiolía, link=no), was an area that comprised the west and northwestern region of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), mostly along the coast, and also several offshore islan ...

quadrangles, is a broad plain that straddles the equator of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, centered at . It lies to the south of the volcanic province of

, the second largest

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

region on the planet, after

Tharsis Tharsis () is a vast volcanic plateau centered near the equator in the western hemisphere of Mars. The region is home to the largest volcanoes in the Solar System, including the three enormous shield volcanoes Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, and As ...

. Elysium contains the major volcanoes Elysium Mons,

Albor Tholus Albor Tholus is an extinct volcano in the volcanic province Elysium on Mars. It lies south of the neighbouring volcanoes Elysium Mons and Hecates Tholus. Albor Tholus is 4.5 kilometres high and has a diameter of 160 km at its base. Its large ...

and

Hecates Tholus Hecates Tholus is a Martian volcano, notable for results from the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission which indicate a major eruption took place 350 million years ago. The eruption created a caldera 10 km in diameter on the volcano's ...

. Another more ancient

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more vi ...

, Apollinaris Mons, is situated just to the south of eastern Elysium Planitia. Within the plains, Cerberus Fossae is the only Mars location with recent volcanic eruptions. Lava flows dated no older than 0.2 million years from the present have been found, and evidence has been found that

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called a ...

may have occurred as recently as 53,000 years ago. Such activity could have provided the environment, in terms of energy and chemicals, needed to support life forms. The largest craters in Elysium Planitia are Eddie, Lockyer, and Tombaugh. The planitia also has river valleys—one of which, Athabasca Valles may be one of the youngest on Mars. On the north east side is an elongated depression called Orcus Patera, and this and some of the eastern plains were imaged in the 1965

Mariner 4 Mariner 4 (together with Mariner 3 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was the fourth in a series of spacecraft intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode. It was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit the ...

flyby. A 2005 photo of a locale in Elysium Planitia at 5°N, 150°E by the

Mars Express ''Mars Express'' is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA). The ''Mars Express'' mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally ref ...

spacecraft shows what may be ash-covered water ice. The volume of ice is estimated to be by in size and deep, similar in size and depth to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

. The ice is thought to be the remains of water floods from the Cerberus Fossae fissures about 2 to 10 million years ago. The surface of the area is broken into 'plates' like broken ice floating on a lake (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor *Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname *Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general *Fred Below ( ...

). Impact crater counts show that the plates are up to 1 million years older than the gap material, showing that the area solidified much too slowly for the material to be basaltic lava.

Overview

File:USGS-Mars-MC-15-ElysiumRegion-mola.png, Elysium quadrangle MOLA map, with Elysium Planitia at bottom File:USGS-Mars-MC-23-AeolisRegion-mola.png,

Aeolis quadrangle The Aeolis quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Aeolis quadrangle is also referred to as MC-23 (Mars Chart-23). The Aeolis quadrangle c ...

MOLA map, with Elysium Planitia at top

Exploration

NASA's ''

InSight Insight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of seeing intui ...

'' mission landed in Elysium Planitia on 26 November 2018. It took off from Earth on 5 May 2018. The probe will study the internal structure of Mars and by so doing improve understanding of the planet's evolution. InSight Mars lander was able to take color pictures from the surface Elysium Planitia and sent them by radio signal back to Earth. During the descent sequence two additional items were jettisoned, the backshell with parachute, and heat shield, and they impacted in the vicinity of the lander. In March 2017, scientists from the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...

announced that the landing site had been selected. It is located in western Elysium Planitia at . The landing site is about north from where the ''Curiosity'' rover is operating in

Gale Crater Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur ast ...

Fractured ground

ESP 048878 2095fractures.jpg, Wide view of fractured ground, as seen by HiRISE under

HiWish program HiWish is a program created by NASA so that anyone can suggest a place for the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to photograph. It was started in January 2010. In the first few months of the program 3000 people signed up to use HiRIS ...

48878 2095fractures.jpg, Close view of fractured ground, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 48878 2095fracturesboulders.jpg, Close view of fractured ground, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Box shows size of football field. The boulders are the size of houses. ESP 048878 2095fracturesclosecolor.jpg, Close, color view of fractured ground, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program

Mesas

ESP 047441 1800layerstreaks.jpg, Wide view of layered buttes and small mesas, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Some

dark slope streaks Dark slope streaks are narrow, avalanche-like features common on dust-covered slopes in the equatorial regions of Mars.Chuang, F.C.; Beyer, R.A.; Bridges, N.T. (2010). Modification of Martian Slope Streaks by Eolian Processes. ''Icarus,'' 205 154 ...

are visible. 47441 1800moundsstreaks.jpg, Layered mesa and mounds with dark slope streaks, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 47441 1800mesaclose.jpg, Close view of layered small mesa with dark slope streak, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Box shows the size of a football field. 47441 1800pyramidrock.jpg, Very close view of individual blocks breaking off layer in a butte, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Blocks have angular shapes. Box shows size of football field. ESP 047929 1760blocks.jpg, Layered mesas, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 47929 1760mesastreaks.jpg, Layered mesas, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program

Dark slope streaks Dark slope streaks are narrow, avalanche-like features common on dust-covered slopes in the equatorial regions of Mars.Chuang, F.C.; Beyer, R.A.; Bridges, N.T. (2010). Modification of Martian Slope Streaks by Eolian Processes. ''Icarus,'' 205 154 ...

are also visible. 47929 1760mesaclose2.jpg, Mesas, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Top layer, the cap rock is breaking up into boulders. 47929 1760mesaclose.jpg, Close view of cap rock breaking up into boulders, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program

Cubes

ESP 045885 2070cones.jpg, Cones, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program These cones probably formed when hot lava flowed over ice-rich ground. 45885 2070cones.jpg, Close view of cones, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program These cones probably formed when hot lava flowed over ice-rich ground.

Gallery

File:Wikiterracimmeriaboundaries.jpg, MOLA map showing boundaries of Elysium Planitia and other nearby regions. File:29389knoblayers.jpg, Layers around streamlined knob, as seen by

HiRISE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction ...

under

HiWish HiWish is a program created by NASA so that anyone can suggest a place for the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to photograph. It was started in January 2010. In the first few months of the program 3000 people signed up to use HiRIS ...

program. ESP 045120 1905layers.jpg, Layers in old crater rim, in

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 b ...

as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 45120 1905layers.jpg, Close view of layers from previous image, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Some

are visible. File:ESP 036510 1735layers.jpg, Mounds with layers, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Location is east of Gale Crater in the

. File:Plate-like terrain on Elysium Planitia (CTX).png, These icy plates moved to the left, and obstacles (crater rims) turned them into piles of pieces. File:Wikiesp036510 1735layersmound.jpg, Mound showing layers at the base, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Location is east of Gale Crater in the

. File:Wikiesp036510 1735layersyardang.jpg, Yardangs showing layers, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Location is east of Gale Crater in the

. File:40795 1815mesa.jpg, Mesas and eroded parts of mesas showing layers and

, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Image is located in eastern Avernus Colles. ESP 045029 1785moundlayers.jpg, Wide view of layered terrain, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Location is northeast of Gale Crater. 45029 1785layerswide.jpg, Close view of mound with layers, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Note: this is an enlargement from the previous image. 45029 1785layersclose.jpg, Close view of mound with layers, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Note: this is an enlargement from a previous image. ESP 046097 1740layers.jpg, Wide view of layered terrain, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Note: parts of this image are enlarged in the next three images. 46097 1740layeredbutte.jpg, Close view of layers in a mound, from previous image, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 46097 1740layers.jpg, Close view of layers in a mound, from a previous image, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 46097 1740layersmiddle.jpg, Close view of layers in a mound, from a previous image, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program File:Elephant on Mars.jpg, Lava field on Elysium Planitia resembling an elephant ESP 052346 2040lavaflow.jpg, Lava flow and

, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program

Interactive Mars map

References

External links

Google Mars
– zoomable map centered on Elysium Planitia, with three main volcanoes of Elysium visible
Google Mars – Cerebrus Fossae fissures

High resolution video
by Seán Doran of overflight of a
impact crater in Elysium Planitia
with
lava vent
(1.1° S, 159.7° E) {{Portal bar, Solar System Plains on Mars InSight Elysium quadrangle Aeolis quadrangle