Landslides and delta-shaped alluvial fans
Landslides and delta-shaped alluvial fans
In the north, the Aurorae Chaos region is bound by a wall more than 3000 metres high. Along this steep – and unstable in places – surface feature, large rock masses break loose repeatedly, forming huge alluvial fan deposits. Semicircular indentations are left behind in the terrain edge. The landslides were most likely 'lubricated' by water, which existed as ice within hollow spaces under the plateau and suddenly melted. This would explain the alluvial fans extending into the Aurorae basin as well as the occasional flow structures.