Mars Geological Features

This cluster features various geological formations on Mars, including collapse pits, mantles, flows, and fractures, showcasing the planet's varied surface textures.

Mantles and Flows in Moreux Crater
Mantles and Flows in Moreux Crater
256 assets in this story
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This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows just one of the many lava flows that make up Daedalia Planum. Theses volcanic flows are from Arsia Mons, the southernmost of the three Tharsis Montes.
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Today's VIS image shows the summit of Ascraeus Mons. Ascraeus Mons is the northernmost of the three aligned Tharsis volcanoes. Orbit Number 80602 Latitude 11.189 Longitude 255.887 Instrument VIS Captured 2020-02-15 02 07
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These images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, located in asteroid Vesta's Oppia quadrangle, in Vesta's northern hemisphere, demonstrate a special analytical technique, which results in shadowed areas of Vesta's surface becoming illuminated.
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This image of Candor Chasma taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey contains eroded deposits of material and a large landslide deposit. Gravity, wind, and water all played a role in shaping the landforms we see in this image.
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Windstreaks
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Exposure of North Polar Layered Deposits
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This lower resolution image was taken to explore the extent of storm fronts near the south polar region. The cloud cover is thickest in the middle of the frame
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Jupiter's Equatorial Region in Violet Light (Time Set 3)
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This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a fracture north of Argyre Planitia. Note the dunes within the channel.
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Tempe Terra Craters. Today's VIS image shows a portion of Tempe Terra, including two unnamed craters. The ejecta from the smaller crater appears to overlie several graben (linear depressions created by tectonic forces). This means the crater is younger than the graben. However, both craters are slightly oval, in alignment with the graben in the region. Tectonic features may have existed prior to the graben visible today, affecting the formation of the impact crater. Orbit Number 93803 Latitude 40.7678 Longitude 293.279 Instrument VIS Captured 2023-02-06 01 17 https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25902
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This VIS image shows a cross section of Pavonis Mons, including the central part of the smaller summit caldera (circular depression). On the top side of the caldera is a complex region of fault related collapse of the wall of the caldera. Several intersecting faults are visible there. The faults would have formed areas of weakness in the caldera wall, precipitating into gravity driven down slope movement of materials. This caldera is approximately 5km (3 miles) deep, much deeper that the larger caldera that surrounds the northern and eastern sides of the small caldera. Pavonis Mons, like the other large volcanoes in the region, is a shield volcano. Shield volcanoes are formed by lava flows originating near or at the summit, building up layers upon layers of lava. In shield volcanoes summit calderas are typically formed where the surface collapses into the void formed by an emptied magma chamber. Pavonis Mons is one of the three aligned Tharsis Volcanoes. In order from north to south ar
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Hebrus Vallis
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. Crater Dunes. This VIS image shows a large sand sheet with surface dune forms as well as smaller sand dunes within an unnamed crater in Noachis Terra. These dunes are composed of basaltic sand that has collected in the bottom of the crater. The topographic depression of the crater forms a sand trap that prevents the sand from escaping. Dune fields are common in the bottoms of craters on Mars and appear as dark splotches that often lean up against the downwind walls of the craters. Dunes are useful for studying both the geology and meteorology of Mars. The sand forms by erosion of larger rocks, but it is unclear when and where this erosion took place on Mars or how such large volumes of sand could be formed. The dunes also indicate the local wind directions by their morphology. Orbit Number 91741 Latitude -49.2207 Longitude 33.9713 Instrument VIS Captured 2022-08-20 05 58
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Tharsis Landslide
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Layer upon layer of volcanic flows make up Daedalia Planum as shown in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
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This mosaic of images includes the most detailed view of the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa obtained by NASA's Galileo mission.
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THEMIS ART #88
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This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a wedge shaped field of dunes located in an unusual depression on the floor of this unnamed crater in Noachis Terra.
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Jupiter's atmospheric circulation is dominated by alternating eastward and westward jets from equatorial to polar latitudes. This image was taken on April 3, 1997, by NASA's Galileo spacecraft.
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The streamlined islands in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located in the channel of Marte Vallis.
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The south polar cap is comprised of many layers of ice, as seen in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
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This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Hydraotes Chaos. The individual hills on the left side of the image also appear to be layered.
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Hebrus Vallis
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This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a field of dunes on the floor of an unnamed crater in Terra Sirenum.
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This image shows Hurricane Lane as viewed by NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) central, downward-looking camera. These data were captured during Terra orbit 99382.
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This infrared image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft covers a large swath of Terra Cimmeria, including numerous craters with dunes and dune fields on their floors.
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This VIS image is located along the edge of the south polar cap. In the upper right corner the non-polar surface is visible. The tightly packed layers to the left are the edge of the polar cap, a very steep cliff-like feature. At the bottom half of the image is a surface where some, but not all, of the polar layers have been eroded away. This surface illustrates how the polar layering forms, filling in the low regions first until all the topography is covered. Orbit Number 74956 Latitude -79.7732 Longitude 100.129 Instrument VIS Captured 2018-11-07 03 11
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This image of the south polar cap captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a surface with hundreds of circular depressions.
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This anaglyph, from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, shows the varied topography of eastern New York State and parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 3D glasses are necessary.
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Cross-Cutting Relationships
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Spirit's View of 'Columbia Hills'
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These images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, located in asteroid Vesta's Marcia quadrangle, in Vesta's northern hemisphere, demonstrate a special analytical technique, which results in shadowed areas of Vesta's surface becoming illuminated.
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Spirit Heads Toward History
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Ascraeus Mons. This VIS image shows part of the summit of Ascraeus Mons. Ascraeus Mons is the northernmost and tallest of the three large aligned Tharsis volcanoes. Calderas are found at the tops of volcanoes and are the source region for magma that rises from an underground lava source to erupt at the surface. Volcanoes are formed by repeated flows from the central caldera. The final eruptions can pool within the summit caldera, leaving a flat surface as they cool. Calderas are also a location of collapse, creating rings of tectonic faults that form the caldera rim. Ascraeus Mons has several caldera features at its summit. Ascraeus Mons is 18 km (11 miles) tall, for comparison Mauna Kea - the tallest volcano on Earth - is 10 km tall (6.2 miles, measured from the base below sea level). Orbit Number 93767 Latitude 11.2722 Longitude 11.2722 Instrument VIS Captured 2023-02-03 01 58 https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25875
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Streaming F Ring
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The dunes in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey are near the north polar cap.
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This VIS image shows layering in the south polar cap. The layers are formed over thousands of years of seasonal change, reflecting ice and dust surface deposition. Where the layers appear close to each other are steep trough sides. The steeper the slope, the closer the layers. Orbit Number 75416 Latitude -86.0108 Longitude 177.703 Instrument VIS Captured 2018-12-15 00 24
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Titan Mosaic: October 2004
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Composite of Titan's Surface Seen During Descent
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North Polar Residual Cap
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Huge gullies, like these captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey, line both rims of Ius Chasma.
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The sun has now risen over the south pole of Mars. The polar surface is defrosting. This captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft image shows layering near the margin of the south polar cap.
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This image by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft is within a region called Lunae Planum, west of NASA's Viking 1 landing site, that marks the transition between the Tharsis rise, a giant volcanic complex, and the northern lowland plains.
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MOC View of Mars98 Landing Zone - 12/24/97
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Scientists created this stereo view, called an anaglyph, with two images of the same part of Ceres's surface taken by Dawn on different orbits and from different viewing angles. The images were artificially colored and combined so that when viewed through glasses with a red filter on the left and blue on the right, they provide a 3-D view. The images used in this anaglyph were obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft from an altitude of about 21 miles (34 kilometers). This feature is located at about 19.5 degrees north latitude and 239.2 degrees east longitude, in the western part of Cerealia Facula.
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The complex fracture in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is one of the many graben that surround Alba Mons.
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Spirit's Surroundings on 'West Spur,' Sol 305
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This global digital map of Saturn's moon Enceladus was created using data taken during Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 110 meters (361 feet) per pixel
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This anaglyph, from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, shows the eastern flank of the Andes Mountains, southeast of San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.
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Riding the Rim of 'Endurance' (polar)
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This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows another portion of the large dune field near the north polar cap.
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Aerial view of a part of the area affected during the flood disaster of 1953. Note: The description of this photo is not yet complete and will be supplemented on the basis of the data available at a later stage. However, of many photos of the flood disaster 1953, the location is unknown.
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Jupiter's Equatorial Region in the Near-Infrared (Time Set 3)
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These images of the Venus clouds were taken by NASA's Galileo Solid State Imaging System February 13,1990, at a range of about 1 million miles. The smallest detail visible is about 20 miles. They show the state of the clouds near the top of Venus's cloud
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Europa Ice Rafts and similar scales on Earth
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Aerial view of a part of the area affected during the flood disaster of 1953. Note: The description of this photo is not yet complete and will be supplemented on the basis of the data available at a later stage. However, of many photos of the flood disaster 1953, the location is unknown.