A Cone-Shaped Hill
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
A Cone-Shaped Hill
ESP_042195_2035  Science Theme: Hydrothermal Processes
There are many hills and knobs on Mars that reveal aspects of the local geologic history.

Typically the hills in the relatively-smooth region surrounding this image are flat topped erosional remnants or mesas with irregular or even polyhedral margins. These landforms suggest wide spread erosion of the soft or weakly-cemented sedimentary layers.

This hill stands out because of is circular inverted-cone shape and apparent dark streaks along its flanks visible in lower resolution images. Close inspection from HiRISE reveals that the fine soils sloping down from the peak are intersected with radiating lines of rock and eroding rubble.

This formation is similar to lava intrusions that form in the core of a volcano. As lava is squeezed up into a central conduit, radiating fractures fill with lava forming rock units called dikes. As the lava cools inside the ground and in the fractures, it forms into a harder rock that is more resistant to erosion. Later, as the surrounding sediments and soils erode, the resistant volcanic rock remains standing to tell a story of what happened underground long ago.

Written by: Mike Mellon (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (14 October 2015)
 
Acquisition date
28 July 2015

Local Mars time
14:32

Latitude (centered)
23.257°

Longitude (East)
110.618°

Spacecraft altitude
286.2 km (177.9 miles)

Original image scale range
28.6 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~86 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
1.7°

Phase angle
37.9°

Solar incidence angle
40°, with the Sun about 50° above the horizon

Solar longitude
19.3°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  349.0°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (787MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (427MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (415MB)
non-map           (364MB)

IRB color
map projected  (127MB)
non-map           (321MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (176MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (179MB)

RGB color
non map           (300MB)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

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.