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PIA20209: Strange Patterns in Echus Chasma
This image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft shows bright and dark patterns with curving boundaries. This region of Echus Chasma has been flooded by lava flows that produced rough and smooth surfaces.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE 
 Product Size:  2880 x 1800 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Johns Hopkins University/APL 
 Other  
Information: 		 Other products from ESP_042835_1800 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA20209.tif (15.56 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA20209.jpg (1.477 MB)  

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This image shows bright and dark patterns with curving boundaries, a good example of Mars art. What caused this appearance?

This region of Echus Chasma has been flooded by lava flows that produced rough and smooth surfaces. The rough areas then trap bright dust, creating the contrasts in brightness.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2015-12-10