Utopia Planitia is part of the great northern lowlands of Mars, where there may have been an ancient ocean.

The pits, cracks, and polygons in Utopia have been interpreted as due to some combination of temperature variations in ice-rich ground, sublimation of ground ice, and collapse into subsurface voids.

This HiRISE image reveals many new details, including an abundance of boulders about 1 meter in diameter over the entire region (see the subimage, 2357 x 1486; 10MB). The infrared color of HiRISE reveals two types of materials: the brighter and yellowish areas are probably dusty and the darker and bluer areas are probably coarser particles--sand and rocks.
Written by: Alfred McEwen

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: Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. 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. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. The image data were processed using the U.S. Geological Survey’s ISIS3 software.