Catalog Page for PIA04685

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PIA04685: South Polar Mesas

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a plethora of small mesas with sharp, arcuate edges located on the south polar residual cap of Mars.

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:	1025 x 1537 pixels (w x h)
Produced By:	Malin Space Science Systems
Full-Res TIFF:	PIA04685.tif (1.577 MB)
Full-Res JPEG:	PIA04685.jpg (326.8 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:

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-451, 13 August 2003

This August 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a plethora of small mesas with sharp, arcuate edges located on the south polar residual cap of Mars. These mesas, each about 2 meters (6-7 feet) high, are all remnants of a single layer or grouping of layers of frozen carbon dioxide. Sublimation of the carbon dioxide has eroded the layer(s) from these flat-topped mesas. This scene is located near 86.6°S, 105.4°W and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left.

Image Credit:

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:

2003-08-20