Striking landscape features in Idaeus Fossae
Striking landscape features in Idaeus Fossae
At first glance, the Idaeus Fossae region in the north-western tip of the 'Golden Plain' Chryse Planitia, at the transition from the Martian highlands to the northern lowlands, appears monotonous. On closer inspection, however, interesting landforms can be recognised. From south (left) to north, these include: table mountains (mesas) more than a thousand metres high; layers of dark deposits (dark layers); strikingly bright areas (light patches); wrinkle ridges formed by folding and thrusting as lava cools; fluidised ejecta blankets at impact craters; a crater almost 1500 metres deep with an asymmetrical ejecta blanket (butterfly crater with ejecta blanket); and a valley that was probably formed through extensional tectonics.
