A jumble of blocks in the middle of a Martian flood lava plain
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on March 18, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
This is one of what I like to call “What the heck?” images. The broken up blocks resemble ice floes on the edge of the Arctic ice cap that have broken off and have begun floating away.
The problem with this theory is many fold. First, this is on Mars and not on Earth. Second the “sea” these blocks are supposedly “floating” in is actual solid lava. There is no water or ice here, on the surface or even underground. This is in the dry tropics of Mars, where little or no near-surface ice has so far been detected.
The overview map below provides some context, and possibly an explanation.
The white dot in the middle of the Athabasca Valles flood lava plain marks the location. This flood plain is thought to be the most recent major lava event on Mars, taking place about 600 million years ago and covering an area about the size of Great Britain in only a matter of weeks.
The inset shows that this jumble of rocks is part of a six-by-seven-mile-wide patch that appears to sit on a slightly raised dome in that flood plain. My guess (which is wildly unreliable) is that these blocks formed as a smooth lava plain during an earlier lava event. Pressure from below raised the ground at this point, breaking up that earlier flood lava into these blocks, but lifting them high enough that the later Athabasca flood could not cover them.
As I said, I am guessing. Actual rock samples would need to be analyzed to determine their make-up and origin in order to get some real answers.
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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 March 18, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
This is one of what I like to call “What the heck?” images. The broken up blocks resemble ice floes on the edge of the Arctic ice cap that have broken off and have begun floating away.
The problem with this theory is many fold. First, this is on Mars and not on Earth. Second the “sea” these blocks are supposedly “floating” in is actual solid lava. There is no water or ice here, on the surface or even underground. This is in the dry tropics of Mars, where little or no near-surface ice has so far been detected.
The overview map below provides some context, and possibly an explanation.
The white dot in the middle of the Athabasca Valles flood lava plain marks the location. This flood plain is thought to be the most recent major lava event on Mars, taking place about 600 million years ago and covering an area about the size of Great Britain in only a matter of weeks.
The inset shows that this jumble of rocks is part of a six-by-seven-mile-wide patch that appears to sit on a slightly raised dome in that flood plain. My guess (which is wildly unreliable) is that these blocks formed as a smooth lava plain during an earlier lava event. Pressure from below raised the ground at this point, breaking up that earlier flood lava into these blocks, but lifting them high enough that the later Athabasca flood could not cover them.
As I said, I am guessing. Actual rock samples would need to be analyzed to determine their make-up and origin in order to get some real answers.
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.
I keep seeing the blocks as holes or pits. My brain knows better but something about the photo makes it look like the are below the surface not above it.
Thanks for the fantastic picture.
Jed H: The Sun is to the left. Try to imagine you are standing there, with the sun coming from that direction. That might help flip the picture.
Another solution is to download the picture, and use a graphics program to literally reverse it.
I agree, it looks to be lifted from underneath. The earth appears bulged in that area as well as some of the blocks are tipped to the side, looking like listing ships.
Interesting anomaly, some of the smaller structures cast the longest shadows. The heavier blocks settled back down with the smaller ones remained high in the air. From ground level, it probably looks like monument valley.