Recent Volcanism in Valles Marineris
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Recent Volcanism in Valles Marineris
ESP_034131_1670  Science Theme: Volcanic Processes
The possibility of recent volcanism inside Valles Marineris was first proposed decades ago based on Viking orbiter images, but the candidate volcanoes proved to be other features such as complex sand dunes when we studied them with higher-resolution images.

However, this image shows cones with summit pits that are very similar to cinder cones on Earth. They are also very well-preserved, peppered by only small impact craters, so they must be geologically young (perhaps less than a few hundred million years).

These features were first seen in Context Camera image (D01_027538_1674_XN_12S062W) and a HiRISE target was suggested by a member of that team using HiWish. The cones might look like craters in single images, but if you look at the stereo anaglyph, you’ll see the cones stick up and are clearly not the same shape as impact craters.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (15 January 2014)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_033986_1670.
 
Acquisition date
07 November 2013

Local Mars time
14:47

Latitude (centered)
-12.740°

Longitude (East)
297.194°

Spacecraft altitude
259.3 km (161.1 miles)

Original image scale range
29.8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~89 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
27.9°

Phase angle
73.9°

Solar incidence angle
51°, with the Sun about 39° above the horizon

Solar longitude
46.1°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  96°
Sub-solar azimuth:  44.7°
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   (845MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (494MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (377MB)
non-map           (377MB)

IRB color
map projected  (133MB)
non-map           (322MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (225MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (213MB)

RGB color
non map           (314MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

BONUS
4K (TIFF)
8K (TIFF)
10K (TIFF)

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.