A fluted mesa on Mars
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 9, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows what the science team labels a “silica-rich mound”, as indicated by the bright streaks on all the high ridge points.
The flat-topped mesa on the right drops about 200 feet to the valley floor. The rims of that depression to the west rise about 50+ feet higher, while mesa nose in the upper left rising another 50+ feet more.
Was the depression caused by an impact? If so, the landscape has changed radically since that impact occurred, with most of the surrounding terrain eroded away. The two flat-topped mesas hint at the ancient surface when that impact occurred.
A wider view however raises questions about this impact theory.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location. As you can see in the inset, this silica-rich mesa complex is distinctly different than the plains and craters around it. That white material here dominates, suggesting that the mounds and depression might have formed by some chemical process that pushed material up from below ground, leaving behind a spray of surface silica.
Research relating to this region and nearby Columbus crater suggest that much of these deposits exist because of the past existence of deep lakes as well as groundwater springs. For this particular mound, the scientists propose three possible explanations for the silica deposits and the formation of this mesa:
(1) an erosional remnant mesa [my first guess], (2) a siliceous spring mound [my second guess], or (3) a volcanic construct that has been aqueously altered, possibly under acidic conditions.
Their analysis seems to favor the first or second choices, but with caveats for both, making it presently impossible with the available data to come to a firm conclusion.
Readers!
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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.
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Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 9, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows what the science team labels a “silica-rich mound”, as indicated by the bright streaks on all the high ridge points.
The flat-topped mesa on the right drops about 200 feet to the valley floor. The rims of that depression to the west rise about 50+ feet higher, while mesa nose in the upper left rising another 50+ feet more.
Was the depression caused by an impact? If so, the landscape has changed radically since that impact occurred, with most of the surrounding terrain eroded away. The two flat-topped mesas hint at the ancient surface when that impact occurred.
A wider view however raises questions about this impact theory.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location. As you can see in the inset, this silica-rich mesa complex is distinctly different than the plains and craters around it. That white material here dominates, suggesting that the mounds and depression might have formed by some chemical process that pushed material up from below ground, leaving behind a spray of surface silica.
Research relating to this region and nearby Columbus crater suggest that much of these deposits exist because of the past existence of deep lakes as well as groundwater springs. For this particular mound, the scientists propose three possible explanations for the silica deposits and the formation of this mesa:
(1) an erosional remnant mesa [my first guess], (2) a siliceous spring mound [my second guess], or (3) a volcanic construct that has been aqueously altered, possibly under acidic conditions.
Their analysis seems to favor the first or second choices, but with caveats for both, making it presently impossible with the available data to come to a firm conclusion.
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.
What an interesting area for future explorers. Is there any temperature data over this place? I’m thinking geothermal hot springs in the past.