Perspective view of an old crater with dark colouration in Terra Cimmeria
Perspective view of an old crater with dark colouration in Terra Cimmeria
The striking shades of light and dark, which can also be seen in this picture, are caused by differences in mineralogy. Bright areas are covered by dust, which contains a larger proportion of bright minerals, including silicates, which contain a high proportion of silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), which binds elements such as aluminium, calcium, potassium or sodium in the crystal lattice. Dark areas, on the other hand, are mainly covered by material consisting of 'mafic' dark minerals, such as the components of basalt. They have a significantly lower SiO 2 content and contain larger amounts of iron, magnesium and titanium. The HRSC (High Resolution Stereo Camera) images of this region were acquired on 11 December 2018 during orbit 18,904. The image resolution is about 13 metres per pixel. This perspective oblique view was generated from the terrain model data as well as the nadir channel and the colour channels of the HRSC.