We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Evidence from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera for a frozen sea close to Mars'equator.
- Authors
Murray, John B.; Muller, Jan-Peter; Neukum, Gerhard; Werner, Stephanie C.; van Gasselt, Stephan; Hauber, Ernst; Markiewicz, Wojciech J.; Head, James W.; Foing, Bernard H.; Page, David; Mitchell, Karl L.; Portyankina, Ganna
- Abstract
It is thought that the Cerberus Fossae fissures on Mars were the source of both lava and water floods two to ten million years ago. Evidence for the resulting lava plains has been identified in eastern Elysium, but seas and lakes from these fissures and previous water flooding events were presumed to have evaporated and sublimed away. Here we present High Resolution Stereo Camera images from the European Space Agency Mars Express spacecraft that indicate that such lakes may still exist. We infer that the evidence is consistent with a frozen body of water, with surface pack-ice, around 5°north latitude and 150°east longitude in southern Elysium. The frozen lake measures about 800×900?km in lateral extent and may be up to 45?metres deep-similar in size and depth to the North Sea. From crater counts, we determined its age to be 5±2 million years old. If our interpretation is confirmed, this is a place that might preserve evidence of primitive life, if it has ever developed on Mars.
- Subjects
MARS (Planet); OCEAN; PLANETARY surfaces; STEREOSCOPIC cameras; PHOTOGRAPHS; PLANETARY geology
- Publication
Nature, 2005, Vol 434, Issue 7031, p352
- ISSN
0028-0836
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/nature03379