The taffy terrain in Mars’ death valley
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 21, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled “banded terrain and layering,” it actually is a good example of “taffy terrain,” a weird Martian geological formation unique to the Red Planet that scientists as yet don’t quite understand. This 2014 paper only says this:
The apparent sensitivity to local topography and preference for concentrating in localized depressions is compatible with deformation as a viscous fluid. In addition, the bands display clear signs of degradation and slumping at their margins along with a suite of other features that include fractured mounds, polygonal cracks at variable size-scales, and knobby/hummocky textures. Together, these features suggest an ice-rich composition for at least the upper layers of the terrain, which is currently being heavily modified through loss of ice and intense weathering, possibly by wind.
The red dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, in the lowest elevation region of Hellas Basin, the death valley of Mars. The light blue indicates the area in Hellas where this taffy terrain dominates the surface.
I have increased the contrast in the inset to bring out the bands and layering, but if you really want to get a feel for this alien geology, click on the picture above and peruse the full image. Lots to see, all of its beautifuly but utterly alien. As I noted in 2021 in summarizing this 2016 paper [pdf], scientists don’t yet know what kind of viscous fluid created these weird features.
Many theories propose that ice and water acting in conjunction with salt caused their formation, similar to salt domes seen on Earth. Other propose that the terrain formed from some kind of volcanic or impact melt process.
This location at the bottom of Hellas Basin would be a perfect site for a future helicopter mission. Because of its low elevation the atmosphere is thicker, aiding flight. And the rough terrain suggests a helicopter would be better than a rover for getting from place to place.
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