Exploring the cratered southern highlands of Mars, part 1
Click for original image.
Today and for the next three days the cool images that I will post from Mars will explore a region that I have not covered very much in depth, the cratered southern highlands between the giant basins Argyre and Hellas. The map above is an overview of this 7,000-mile-long region, all of which is inside the 30 to 60 degree south latitude band where scientists have found much evidence of buried glaciers. In this region the bulk of that evidence is most obvious inside craters.
The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on December 21, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and shows a typical example of the kind of glacial feature found. The white cross on the map marks its location, west of the Hellespontus Mountains that form the western rim of Hellas Basin.
Scientists have dubbed this feature concentric crater fill, a purposely vague term because — though it looks like glacial fill — until there is data to confirm it the scientists would quite properly rather not commit themselves. The concentric rings suggest multiple layers, each of which likely marks a different climate cycle in Mars’ geological history.
In this case the glacier features also appear to cover the entire plain surrounding the crater as well as its rim. The small crater to the west is similar, and both give the appearance that the ice sheet that covers them came after the impact, draping itself over everything, with the craters only visible because the ice sheet sags within their interiors.
More crazy features from the cratered highlands to come.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID 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. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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
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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.
Click for original image.
Today and for the next three days the cool images that I will post from Mars will explore a region that I have not covered very much in depth, the cratered southern highlands between the giant basins Argyre and Hellas. The map above is an overview of this 7,000-mile-long region, all of which is inside the 30 to 60 degree south latitude band where scientists have found much evidence of buried glaciers. In this region the bulk of that evidence is most obvious inside craters.
The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on December 21, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and shows a typical example of the kind of glacial feature found. The white cross on the map marks its location, west of the Hellespontus Mountains that form the western rim of Hellas Basin.
Scientists have dubbed this feature concentric crater fill, a purposely vague term because — though it looks like glacial fill — until there is data to confirm it the scientists would quite properly rather not commit themselves. The concentric rings suggest multiple layers, each of which likely marks a different climate cycle in Mars’ geological history.
In this case the glacier features also appear to cover the entire plain surrounding the crater as well as its rim. The small crater to the west is similar, and both give the appearance that the ice sheet that covers them came after the impact, draping itself over everything, with the craters only visible because the ice sheet sags within their interiors.
More crazy features from the cratered highlands to come.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID 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. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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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