Diane Ainsworth
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)
RELEASE: 98-200
NEW MARS IMAGES SHOW LAVA FLOW PLATES AND ACTIVE DUNES
McEwen and his co-authors believe that lava erupted near this
area and the upper surface became crusted, then cooled and
cracked. Some cracks widened and portions of the surface crust
became rafts of solid rock that moved in the direction that the
molten lava was flowing underneath. Other Viking and Global
Surveyor images have shown similar plate-like lava textures in
nearby Marte Vallis, implying that some of the lava from Elysium
Basin spilled into this valley and flowed thousands of kilometers
to the northeast.
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