This image shows the Deuteronilus Mensae region on Mars, an area primarily characterized by glacial features. The area is located on the northern edge of Arabia Terra and borders the southern high- and northern lowlands, at approximately 39° North and 23° East. Photo Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)Paris, May 22 (ANI): The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the Mars Express has captured breathtaking images of the Deuteronilus Mensae region on the Red Planet.
Situated at approximately 39° North and 23° East, Deuteronilus Mensae are primarily characterised by glacial features.
The images taken on March 14, 2005, with a ground resolution of approximately 29 metres per pixel, show the Deuteronilus Mensae region, located on the northern edge of Arabia Terra and bordering the southern highlands and the northern lowlands. The scene is dominated by a depression measuring approximately 2 000 metres in depth and 110 kilometres in diameter, north to south.
The interior of the depression, visible in the centre of the first image, is characterized by dark material, differing from the light-toned surrounding plains. Deeply incised valleys ranging from a depth 800 to 1 200 metres are conspicuous in the northern part of the scene.
It is believed that the valleys visible in the image may have originated from intense flooding by melted water ice. The water then froze rather quickly and flowed down the slopes of the depression like a glacier. Photo Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)According to the researchers, these valleys might have originated due to intense flooding by melted water ice. The water froze quickly, flowing down the slopes of the depression like a glacier, tracing the flow pattern on the surface.
The northern part also exhibits a finger-shaped elevation, which researchers believe, was circumvented by the masses of water and ice.
To the west, the flow of water mixed with ice broke through another elevation and formed a drop - shaped feature while flowing into the depression, ESA said.
According to the research team, Mars experienced numerous events of this kind in the past, when rising magma or impacts caused frozen groundwater to melt resulting in major flooding events.
“One of the most striking features on Mars is the dichotomy between the southern highlands and the northern plains, lower by up to 3 kilometers. The boundary between these two regions is marked by a transition characterized by an intact highland zone and areas with remnant mesas and isolated eroded knobs,” the agency said in a statement.
The dark depression visible at the top-left of the image measures 2 000 metres in depth and 110 kilometres in diameter, north to south. Photo Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)The astronomers further said the scene of Deuteronilus Mensae depicted different stages of highland degradation.
Numerous flow patterns in wide valleys and along ridges and scarps indicated movement of debris mixed with ice towards the surrounding areas, agency astronomers said, adding that since the discovery of these structures, scientists have begun assuming that the mixture of debris and ice resembled rock glaciers commonly found in cold-climate areas on the Earth.
As on Earth, these landscapes are climate indicators. Whether ice could be still present in the porous spaces in Martian features and how active these landforms may be today is still a subject of discussion, ESA said. (ANI)