Faults on Rim of Orcus Patera
HiRISE PICTURE OF THE DAY: 28 JULY 2025

Faults on the Rim of Orcus Patera

Most Marsquakes observed by the InSight lander occured in Cerberus Fossae, which is tectonically well-understood. A few events, however, have taken place in regions where no young faults had been mapped so far. One such event is currently located in the Orcus Patera. This public target request asks for HiRISE images of fault systems to estimate their age.



HiRISE Instrument News
Since July 23, 2023, HiRISE observations have lacked data from the RED4 CCD due to a hardware issue, creating a gap in the middle of image products and reducing the color swath to 1 CCD width. We are investigating the hardware issue and may be able to acquire some RED4 data in the future.

Glacial (Ice) or Lava Flow?
The geologic setting and latitude here suggest this is a glacial (ice-rich) flow, but the surface is broken into plates like many lava flows on Mars.