Clusters of Mounds at Acidalia Planitia
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Clusters of Mounds at Acidalia Planitia
PSP_009485_2185  Science Theme: Volcanic Processes
This HiRISE image shows clusters of light-colored mounds poking through the dark plains of Acidalia. These mounds are similar in shape and color to mounds identified elsewhere in the Northern Lowlands.

The mounds imaged here are approximately 250 meters (270 yards) across, and most of them have one or more central crater-like depressed areas, looking like terrestrial cinder cones. Terrestrial cinder cones are formed by loose volcanic fragments, mostly gravel- and boulder-size. In contrast, the surface of these Martian mounds looks cemented rather than bouldery.

There are several hypothesis to explain the origin of these Martian mounds; all of them require the presence of fluids near or at the surface.

One hypothesis is that these mounds are hydrothermal spring edifices like those at Yellowstone. Terrestrial hydrothermal spring mounds form when hot subsurface fluids, loaded with minerals, reach the surface and deposit their load.

Another possible explanation is that these mounds are mud volcanoes, similar to those found at Trinidad and Tobago. Mud volcanism occurs when buried wet sediments are subject to high pressures and squeeze out though weak points at the surface.

Some terrestrial pseudocraters are also similar to these Martian mounds. Pseudocraters form when lava flows over wet terrains or over water bodies. The lava's heat vaporizes the fluids, which then burst through the lava, producing small explosions and building conical landforms.



Written by: Sara Martinez-Alonso  (24 September 2008)

This is a stereo pair with PSP_009063_2185.
 
Acquisition date
04 August 2008

Local Mars time
15:27

Latitude (centered)
38.124°

Longitude (East)
319.490°

Spacecraft altitude
296.3 km (184.2 miles)

Original image scale range
31.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~94 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

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Equirectangular

Emission angle
19.7°

Phase angle
26.4°

Solar incidence angle
46°, with the Sun about 44° above the horizon

Solar longitude
108.0°, Northern Summer

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North azimuth:  95°
Sub-solar azimuth:  1.4°
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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.