1 October 2004
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows streamlined islands and a small cataract in an outflow channel system in the Zephyria region of Mars, south of Cerberus. The fluids responsible for creating these landforms flowed from the lower left (southwest) toward upper right (northeast). The fluids may have been water and mud or, some Mars scientists have argued, extremely fluid lava. The presence of a small cataract probably argues more strongly for a water and mud origin. This image is located near 3.8°N, 204.7°W. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from upper left.