Brain terrain on Mars?
Click for original picture. For full image go here.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and expanded to post here, was taken on April 2, 2026 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled simply as a “terrain sample”, such images are usually taken not as part of any specific research project, but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule. The camera team needs to take pictures at a regular cadence to maintain its proper temperature.
When they have such a gap, they try to find interesting things to photograph, and usually succeed. In this case we are looking at what I think the scientists dub “brain terrain,” a feature unique to Mars that is thought related to near surface ice and its sublimation, though at present the origins of brain terrain remain murky. The scale is approximately 100 meters across the width of this picture.
However, the location of this brain terrain makes any conclusions about its origin difficult.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, on the vast flood lava plains surrounding Mars’ biggest volcanoes. In this case the location is in the center of a plain dubbed Icaria Planum. Thus, we might not be looking at geology formed due to near surface ice, but by the solidification of lava in the distant past.
I still favor an ice explanation, however, for two reasons. The latitude, 42 degrees south, is well within the mid-latitudes where near surface ice is plentiful on Mars. Also, if you look at the full picture, you can see there is a small 1.4-mile-wide unnamed crater nearby that appears filled with glacial debris. Moreover, the inset on the overview map shows lots of blobby features and splash aprons around other craters, all suggesting near surface ice.
Nonetheless, I am still guessing, and my guesses are dangerous because they are based on only a little knowledge. All we can say with full confidence is that Mars is an alien planet with geology not found on Earth.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for original picture. For full image go here.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and expanded to post here, was taken on April 2, 2026 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled simply as a “terrain sample”, such images are usually taken not as part of any specific research project, but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule. The camera team needs to take pictures at a regular cadence to maintain its proper temperature.
When they have such a gap, they try to find interesting things to photograph, and usually succeed. In this case we are looking at what I think the scientists dub “brain terrain,” a feature unique to Mars that is thought related to near surface ice and its sublimation, though at present the origins of brain terrain remain murky. The scale is approximately 100 meters across the width of this picture.
However, the location of this brain terrain makes any conclusions about its origin difficult.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, on the vast flood lava plains surrounding Mars’ biggest volcanoes. In this case the location is in the center of a plain dubbed Icaria Planum. Thus, we might not be looking at geology formed due to near surface ice, but by the solidification of lava in the distant past.
I still favor an ice explanation, however, for two reasons. The latitude, 42 degrees south, is well within the mid-latitudes where near surface ice is plentiful on Mars. Also, if you look at the full picture, you can see there is a small 1.4-mile-wide unnamed crater nearby that appears filled with glacial debris. Moreover, the inset on the overview map shows lots of blobby features and splash aprons around other craters, all suggesting near surface ice.
Nonetheless, I am still guessing, and my guesses are dangerous because they are based on only a little knowledge. All we can say with full confidence is that Mars is an alien planet with geology not found on Earth.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Cool Image Time is, well, cool
“”All we can say with full confidence is that Mars is an alien planet with geology not found on Earth.””
We have driven to Denver, CO from Sacramento several times. I remember the amazing vistas that remind me of some of the Rover images. In Wyoming on Hwy 80, there are vast stretches that, without the ground cover, appear very much like some of the Rover images. Mars is indeed alien geology. To think that the wind and sandstorms shaped some of the Martian surface, not rain. As always, fascinating.