Surface features in the Deuteronilus Cavus depression
Surface features in the Deuteronilus Cavus depression
The transition zone between the southern highlands and northern lowlands on Mars is shaped by many different geological processes. Notably, at the edge of the 120-kilometre-wide Deuteronilus Cavus depression are deep incised valleys, formed by regressive erosion caused by groundwater emerging from the crater walls. Hills and mesas within the depression may be remnants of a once-continuous highland plain, or possibly formed from the rebound of the Martian crust following the impact of the approximately 10-kilometre asteroid that formed the crater. Arrows in the image show the direction of material movement from slope failures. 'Wrinkle ridges' are hardened flow fronts of low-viscosity lava.
