[meteorite-list] Mars Express Image: Fractured Crater Near Valles Marineris

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMG6OV4QWD_0.html

Fractured crater near Valles Marineris
European Space Agency
Mars Express 
27 July 2004

This perspective image of a fractured crater near Valles Marineris on
Mars was obtained by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board
the ESA Mars Express spacecraft.
 
The image was taken during orbit 61 in January 2004 with a resolution of
12.5 metres per pixel. It shows part of a cratered landscape to the
north of the Valles Marineris, at 0.6° S latitude and 309° E longitude,
with this crater having a fractured base.  
 
This crater has a rim diameter of 27.5 kilometres and is about 800
metres deep. It is not known yet how these fractures are generated. On
Earth, polygonal fractures may occur in contracting material, which
breaks at weak zones. For example, we may see this appearing in cooled
lava, dried clay or frozen ground.