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This HiRISE image (PSP_002432_1525) samples part of an ancient lava plain in Thaumasia Planum. The stack of lava flows has been folded into ridges the size of a chain of hills, as can be seen in the center of the image.

The lava and the ridge has been degraded by erosion. The numerous craters and dunes attest to two of the erosional processes-meteorite impacts and the wind.

Observation Toolbox
Acquisition date: 2 February 2007
Local Mars time: 3:47 PM
Degrees latitude (centered): -27.4°
Degrees longitude (East): 294.8°
Range to target site: 252.7 km (157.9 miles)
Original image scale range: 25.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~76 cm across are resolved
Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up
Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission angle: 0.3°
Phase angle: 61.7°
Solar incidence angle: 62°, with the Sun about 28° above the horizon
Solar longitude: 176.7°, Northern Summer

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.