Science and Exploration

Lava of Cerberus Palus On Mars

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
January 3, 2022
Filed under ,
Lava of Cerberus Palus On Mars
Lava of Cerberus Palus On Mars
NASA/HiRISE

When our camera is pointed straight down at the surface of Mars, we call this “nadir.”
This particular terrain, featuring platy-ridged lava, loans itself for good nadir images. Cerberus Palus once contained a lake that might have been either water or lava. The large plates almost look like pack ice, and gaps between them contain impressive lava coils that are bigger than ones found on Earth.

ID: ESP_065191_1850
date: 23 June 2020
altitude: 273 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_065191_1850
NASA/JPL/UArizona

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.