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PIA03066: Zephyria Platy Flows
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the broken, platy texture of flow surfaces in the Zephyria region of Mars. Small craters formed on these surfaces, and some of them have boulders in their ejecta.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  672 x 1357 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1258  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA03066.tif (913 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA03066.jpg (301.9 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

22 October 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the broken, platy texture of flow surfaces in the Zephyria region of Mars. Some investigators have suggested that these materials represent the remains of an ice-covered lake; others suggest that these are the surfaces of hardened lava that -- when it was erupting -- was very hot and fluid. Although not illustrated here, a key piece of evidence against the ice-covered lake hypothesis is that there are some small craters formed on these surfaces (one can be seen in the lower left/southwest corner), and some of them have boulders in their ejecta. The boulders indicate that the material is rock-solid.

Location near: 5.3°N, 208.6°W
Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Autumn

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2005-10-22