Of Elephants and Floods of Lava
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Of Elephants and Floods of Lava
ESP_026461_2080  Science Theme: Volcanic Processes
This observation highlights terrain that looks like an elephant. This is a good example of the phenomena “pareidolia”, where we see things (such as animals) that aren’t really there.

Actually, this image covers the margin of a lava flow in Elysium Planitia, the youngest flood-lava province on Mars. Flood lavas cover extensive areas, and were once thought to be emplaced extremely rapidly, like a flood of water.

Most lava floods on Earth are emplaced over years to decades, and this is probably true for much of the lava on Mars as well. An elephant can walk away from the slowly advancing flow front. However, there is also evidence for much more rapidly flowing lava on Mars, a true flood of lava. In this instance, maybe this elephant couldn't run away fast enough.

Note: the cutout is not map-projected, so approximate north is down.

Written by: Alfred McEwen  (4 April 2012)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_026738_2080.
 
Acquisition date
19 March 2012

Local Mars time
15:03

Latitude (centered)
27.805°

Longitude (East)
173.034°

Spacecraft altitude
290.6 km (180.6 miles)

Original image scale range
29.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~88 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
4.9°

Phase angle
45.7°

Solar incidence angle
41°, with the Sun about 49° above the horizon

Solar longitude
85.2°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  12.5°
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Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
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POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.