A somewhat typical but strange crater in Mars’ Death Valley
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on August 29, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The camera team labels the primary feature in this picture as “ridges,” but what I see is a strange crater that at first glance appears to be impact-caused, but at closer inspection might be something else entirely.
This unnamed crater is about one mile wide. It is only about fifty feet deep, but sits above the surround landscape by about 200 feet. That high position suggests strongly that this crater was not formed by an impact by is instead a caldera from some sort of volcanic activity, with the splash apron around it simply examples of past magma flows erupting from within.
The ridges inside the crater might be glacial debris, as this location is at 35 degrees south latitude, making near surface ice possible.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, within Hellas Basin at its lowest point and also at the edge of a region of taffy terrain, one of Mars’ many unique geological features that remains as yet unexplained. (For other examples of cool images of taffy terrain, go here, here, and here.) All scientists know at this point is that taffy terrain appears to have formed by the flow of some viscous material that appears to have settled into the lowest spots. Both ice and lava are considered components, either separately or in combination.
The arrows in the inset indicate the locations of all the other nearby craters, all of which exhibit similar features. They sit above the surrounding terrain and have splash aprons. Were these craters small volcanic eruptions relative to the formation of the taffy terrain? Maybe. It is also possible we are looking at impacts that hit that viscous material, producing the splash aprons and then remaining as the surrounding terrain eroded away because after impact the craters were more resistent to erosion.
The situation certainly bears investigation, as Sherlock Holmes might say.
The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
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. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to 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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
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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 August 29, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The camera team labels the primary feature in this picture as “ridges,” but what I see is a strange crater that at first glance appears to be impact-caused, but at closer inspection might be something else entirely.
This unnamed crater is about one mile wide. It is only about fifty feet deep, but sits above the surround landscape by about 200 feet. That high position suggests strongly that this crater was not formed by an impact by is instead a caldera from some sort of volcanic activity, with the splash apron around it simply examples of past magma flows erupting from within.
The ridges inside the crater might be glacial debris, as this location is at 35 degrees south latitude, making near surface ice possible.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, within Hellas Basin at its lowest point and also at the edge of a region of taffy terrain, one of Mars’ many unique geological features that remains as yet unexplained. (For other examples of cool images of taffy terrain, go here, here, and here.) All scientists know at this point is that taffy terrain appears to have formed by the flow of some viscous material that appears to have settled into the lowest spots. Both ice and lava are considered components, either separately or in combination.
The arrows in the inset indicate the locations of all the other nearby craters, all of which exhibit similar features. They sit above the surrounding terrain and have splash aprons. Were these craters small volcanic eruptions relative to the formation of the taffy terrain? Maybe. It is also possible we are looking at impacts that hit that viscous material, producing the splash aprons and then remaining as the surrounding terrain eroded away because after impact the craters were more resistent to erosion.
The situation certainly bears investigation, as Sherlock Holmes might say.
The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
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. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to 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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five 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:
5. 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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
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