Elysium Planitia

This article is about the plain on Mars. For other uses, see Elysium (disambiguation).
Elysium Planitia
MOLA topographical map of Elysium Planitia.
Coordinates 3°00′N 154°42′E / 3.0°N 154.7°E / 3.0; 154.7Coordinates: 3°00′N 154°42′E / 3.0°N 154.7°E / 3.0; 154.7

Elysium Planitia, located in the Elysium and Aeolis quadrangles, is a broad plain that straddles the equator of Mars, centered at 3°00′N 154°42′E / 3.0°N 154.7°E / 3.0; 154.7.[1] It lies to the south of the volcanic province of Elysium, the second largest volcanic region on the planet, after Tharsis.

The largest craters in this Elysium Planitia are Eddie, Lockyer, and Tombaugh. Elysium contains major volcanoes named Elysium Mons and Albor Tholus and river valleys--one of which, Athabasca Valles may be one of the youngest on Mars. On the east side is an elongated depression called Orcus Patera.

A 2005 photo of a locale within Elysium Planitia at 5° N, 150° E by the Mars Express spacecraft shows what may be ash-covered water ice. The volume of ice is estimated to be 800 km (500 mi) by 900 km (560 mi) in size and 45 m (148 ft) deep, similar in size and depth to the North Sea.[2] The ice is thought to be the remains of water floods from the Cerberus Fossae fissures about 2 to 10 million years ago. The surface of the area is broken into 'plates' like broken ice floating on a lake. Impact crater counts show that the plates are up to 1 million years older than the gap material, showing that the area solidified much too slowly for the material to be basaltic lava.[3]

The InSight mission is expected to land on Elysium Planitia in November 2018.[4]

Cones

Gallery

Interactive Mars map

Acidalia Planitia Acidalia Planitia Alba Mons Amazonis Planitia Aonia Terra Arabia Terra Arcadia Planitia Arcadia Planitia Argyre Planitia Elysium Mons Elysium Planitia Hellas Planitia Hesperia Planum Isidis Planitia Lucas Planum Lyot (crater) Noachis Terra Olympus Mons Promethei Terra Rudaux (crater) Solis Planum Tempe Terra Terra Cimmeria Terra Sabaea Terra Sirenum Tharsis Montes Utopia Planitia Valles Marineris Vastitas Borealis Vastitas BorealisMap of Mars
Interactive imagemap of the global topography of Mars. Hover your mouse to see the names of over 25 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Reds and pinks are higher elevation (+3 km to +8 km); yellow is 0 km; greens and blues are lower elevation (down to −8 km). Whites (>+12 km) and browns (>+8 km) are the highest elevations. Axes are latitude and longitude; Poles are not shown.
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See also

References

  1. ↑ USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature entry for Elysium Planitia
  2. ↑ Young, Kelly (2005-02-25). "'Pack ice' suggests frozen sea on Mars". New Scientist. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
  3. ↑ John B. Murray, JB; Muller, JP; Neukum, G; Werner, SC; Van Gasselt, S; Hauber, E; Markiewicz, WJ; Head Jw, 3rd; et al. (17 March 2007). "Evidence ... for a frozen sea close to Mars' equator". Nature. 434 (7031): 352–355. Bibcode:2005Natur.434..352M. doi:10.1038/nature03379. PMID 15772653.
  4. ↑ Foust, Jeff (9 March 2016). "NASA commits to 2018 Mars InSight launch". Latest News. SpaceNews.

External links

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