A frozen bubbly caldron on Mars
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on April 11, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows a nice collection of what the scientists label “irregular ring structures,” interspersed with clusters of small mesas ranging in heights from 13 to 75 feet.
The location is at 27 degrees north latitude, so the presence of near surface ice, which might explain these strange rings, is less likely though not impossible. The stipled nature of the flat ground suggests that near surface ice might be here, resulting in sublimation of that ice and leaving behind a flat but rough surface.
The location however suggests another possibility, which though vastly different in some ways, is almost identical in others.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, inside the Amazonis Planitia plain and about five hundred miles south of the candidate landing zone for SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft. The surface of this region is generally considered to be a flood lava plain, its surface coated with extensive lava deposits placed there more than a billion years ago during Mars’ volcanic eruption period. Thus much of the surface is flat, featureless, with far fewer craters.
The inset provides a bit more information. These rings and mesas extend along a low rise of land that stretches about 80 miles north-south and 30 miles east-west. The eastern front of this ridge is much steeper than the western slope, and appears to end at what looks like a frozen wave of lava.
Thus, what the rings and mounds might represent is the crack and bubble of a wide flow of flood lava, that as it slowly pushed eastward its surface released a number of bubbles (the mesas), some of which popped (the rings).
It is a nice theory, but if I were you I’d retain my skepticism. We could also still be looking at similar features produced by the sublimation of underground water ice, most of which is now gone.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
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Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on April 11, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows a nice collection of what the scientists label “irregular ring structures,” interspersed with clusters of small mesas ranging in heights from 13 to 75 feet.
The location is at 27 degrees north latitude, so the presence of near surface ice, which might explain these strange rings, is less likely though not impossible. The stipled nature of the flat ground suggests that near surface ice might be here, resulting in sublimation of that ice and leaving behind a flat but rough surface.
The location however suggests another possibility, which though vastly different in some ways, is almost identical in others.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, inside the Amazonis Planitia plain and about five hundred miles south of the candidate landing zone for SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft. The surface of this region is generally considered to be a flood lava plain, its surface coated with extensive lava deposits placed there more than a billion years ago during Mars’ volcanic eruption period. Thus much of the surface is flat, featureless, with far fewer craters.
The inset provides a bit more information. These rings and mesas extend along a low rise of land that stretches about 80 miles north-south and 30 miles east-west. The eastern front of this ridge is much steeper than the western slope, and appears to end at what looks like a frozen wave of lava.
Thus, what the rings and mounds might represent is the crack and bubble of a wide flow of flood lava, that as it slowly pushed eastward its surface released a number of bubbles (the mesas), some of which popped (the rings).
It is a nice theory, but if I were you I’d retain my skepticism. We could also still be looking at similar features produced by the sublimation of underground water ice, most of which is now gone.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
These structures look very similar to pingos in the Canadian high arctic.