PIA08077: Out of Steam
This NASA Mars Global Surveyor image shows the margin of an ancient, cratered, hummocky (rough) lava flow at just the point where it encroached upon a small impact crater east of the volcano, Tharsis Tholus.
 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 1727 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1434  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08077.tif (1.162 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08077.jpg (194.8 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:

16 April 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the margin of an ancient, cratered, hummocky (rough) lava flow at just the point where it encroached upon a small impact crater east of the volcano, Tharsis Tholus. The lava flow was thin enough and didn't have sufficient energy to flow into and bury the crater. Instead, it took the path of least of resistance, around the crater.

Location near: 85.5°S, 76.8°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Summer

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-04-16