A spot where the surface of Mars cracked
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on September 14, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows a small section of the Cerberus Fossae cracks, a parallel series of cracks that stretch more than 700 miles across the volcanic plains of Mars.
These cracks formed when the ground spread apart, creating a void in which the surface collapsed. You can see this process illustrated quite clearly by the crater in the lower right, as indicated by the arrow. The crater had existed prior to the crack. When the ground split and collapsed, only the northeast quadrant of the crater was destroyed.
These cracks might also have been the source of Mars’ most recent large volcanic event, as shown by the overview map below.
The white dot inside the rectangle on the overview map to the right marks the location, also indicated by the small box inside the inset. The Cerberus Fossae cracks run east to west, and cut across what the seismometer on the lander InSight found to the most quake-prone region of Mars. It appears that when these cracks opened they might have been the source of the Athabasca Valles flood lava event, thought to have occurred about 600 million years ago when it covered an area about the size of Great Britain in only a matter of weeks. The lava flowed to the southwest, almost at perfect right angles to Cerberus Fossae. The flood then divided, with some heading to the south and the majority flowing west.
If Cerberus Fossae is the source of this flood, it suggests the ground cracked 600 million years ago as well. Why it cracked is less clear, though it likely had something to do with underground volcanic activity that pushed the Athabasca lava upward and out, forcing the surface to stretch and split.
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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:
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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 September 14, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows a small section of the Cerberus Fossae cracks, a parallel series of cracks that stretch more than 700 miles across the volcanic plains of Mars.
These cracks formed when the ground spread apart, creating a void in which the surface collapsed. You can see this process illustrated quite clearly by the crater in the lower right, as indicated by the arrow. The crater had existed prior to the crack. When the ground split and collapsed, only the northeast quadrant of the crater was destroyed.
These cracks might also have been the source of Mars’ most recent large volcanic event, as shown by the overview map below.
The white dot inside the rectangle on the overview map to the right marks the location, also indicated by the small box inside the inset. The Cerberus Fossae cracks run east to west, and cut across what the seismometer on the lander InSight found to the most quake-prone region of Mars. It appears that when these cracks opened they might have been the source of the Athabasca Valles flood lava event, thought to have occurred about 600 million years ago when it covered an area about the size of Great Britain in only a matter of weeks. The lava flowed to the southwest, almost at perfect right angles to Cerberus Fossae. The flood then divided, with some heading to the south and the majority flowing west.
If Cerberus Fossae is the source of this flood, it suggests the ground cracked 600 million years ago as well. Why it cracked is less clear, though it likely had something to do with underground volcanic activity that pushed the Athabasca lava upward and out, forcing the surface to stretch and split.
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.
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