Comparison of ash deposits in a Viking image and the HRSC Mars camera
Comparison of ash deposits in a Viking image and the HRSC Mars camera
The left image was taken by the Viking probe in 1976. The right image is from the DLR Mars camera HRSC, taken in 2024. Fifty years ago, the dark volcanic ash and sand deposits were not as extensive as they are today. Over this period, the material must either have been displaced further south by Martian winds, or the red dust that previously covered the ash layer has been blown away.