Colles Nili – escarpment outliers at the transition between the Martian highlands and lowlands
Colles Nili – escarpment outliers at the transition between the Martian highlands and lowlands
One of the most striking topographic features of Mars is its pronounced ‘dichotomy’ – its division into an older highland region littered with craters to the south of the equator and lowland plains in the north of the planet. The transition between the lowlands and the highlands is mostly marked by a steep escarpment, the foothills of which contain numerous inselbergs or ‘escarpment outliers’ that could be remnants of the highland region that have withstood erosion. In these images of Colles Nili, the ‘Hills of the Nile’ region, signs of glacier and ice activity can frequently be observed along the dichotomy boundary, which reveal heavy glaciation in the past.
