NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Zephyria Platy Flows
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1258, 22 October 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the broken, platy texture of flow surfaces in the Zephyria region of Mars. Some investigators have suggested that these materials represent the remains of an ice-covered lake; others suggest that these are the surfaces of hardened lava that—when it was erupting—was very hot and fluid. Although not illustrated here, a key piece of evidence against the ice-covered lake hypothesis is that there are some small craters formed on these surfaces (one can be seen in the lower left/southwest corner), and some of them have boulders in their ejecta. The boulders indicate that the material is rock-solid. |
Location near: 5.3°N, 208.6°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Autumn |
Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology
built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission.
MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, California.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mars Surveyor Operations Project
operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial
partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena,
California and Denver, Colorado.
