The Olympica Fossae are a set of troughs in the Tharsis quadrangle of Mars at 25° north latitude and 114.1° west longitude. They are about 420 km long and were named after an albedo feature at 17N, 134W.[1] Parts of the fossae have been suggested to be both outflow channels as well as channels for flowing lava, routing both molten rock and catastrophic outburst floods of water at different times in Mars' geological past.[2]
Olympica Fossae
Image of the Olympica Fosae based on THEMIS day-time image
The Olympica Fossae are a large set of troughs, called fossae in the geographical language used for Mars. Troughs form when the crust is stretched until it breaks along two subparallel failure planes, or faults. The middle section between the faults moves down, forming the trough and leaving steep cliffs along the sides. Sometimes, a line of pits form as material collapse into a void that forms from the stretching. Such fault-bounded geological structures are also called graben.[3]
Dark slope streaksedit
A picture below shows dark streaks on the Olympica Fossae. Such streaks are common on Mars. They occur on steep slopes of craters, troughs, and valleys. The streaks are dark at first. They get lighter with age. Sometimes they start in a tiny spot, then spread out and go for hundreds of meters. They have been seen to travel around obstacles, like boulders.[4] It is believed that they are avalanches of bright dust that expose a darker underlying layer. However, several ideas have been advanced to explain them. Some involve water or even the growth of organisms.[5][6][7] The streaks appear in areas covered with dust. Much of the Martian surface is covered with dust. Fine dust settles out of the atmosphere covering everything. We know a lot about this dust because the solar panels of the Mars Rovers get covered with dust, thus reducing the electrical energy. The power of the Rovers has been restored many times by the wind, in the form of dust devils, cleaning the panels and boosting the power.[8] Dust storms are frequent, especially when the spring season begins in the southern hemisphere. At that time, Mars is 40% closer to the Sun. The orbit of Mars is much more elliptical than the Earth's. That is the difference between the farthest point from the Sun and the closest point to the Sun is very great for Mars, but only a slight amount for the Earth. Also, every few years, the entire planet is engulfed in global dust storms. When NASA's Mariner 9 craft arrived there, nothing could be seen through the dust storm.[9][10] Other global dust storms have also been observed, since that time.
The Olympica Fossae, as seen by HiRISE. Click on image to see rock layers in wall.
olympica, fossae, troughs, tharsis, quadrangle, mars, north, latitude, west, longitude, they, about, long, were, named, after, albedo, feature, 134w, parts, fossae, have, been, suggested, both, outflow, channels, well, channels, flowing, lava, routing, both, m. The Olympica Fossae are a set of troughs in the Tharsis quadrangle of Mars at 25 north latitude and 114 1 west longitude They are about 420 km long and were named after an albedo feature at 17N 134W 1 Parts of the fossae have been suggested to be both outflow channels as well as channels for flowing lava routing both molten rock and catastrophic outburst floods of water at different times in Mars geological past 2 Olympica FossaeImage of the Olympica Fosae based on THEMIS day time imageCoordinates25 00 N 114 06 W 25 N 114 1 W 25 114 1Map of Tharsis quadrangle with major features indicated Tharsis contains many volcanoes including Olympus Mons the tallest known volcano in the Solar System Notice Ceraunius Tholus although it looks small it is about as high as Earth s Mount Everest Contents 1 Fossa 2 Dark slope streaks 3 Interactive Mars map 4 References 5 See alsoFossa editThe Olympica Fossae are a large set of troughs called fossae in the geographical language used for Mars Troughs form when the crust is stretched until it breaks along two subparallel failure planes or faults The middle section between the faults moves down forming the trough and leaving steep cliffs along the sides Sometimes a line of pits form as material collapse into a void that forms from the stretching Such fault bounded geological structures are also called graben 3 Dark slope streaks editA picture below shows dark streaks on the Olympica Fossae Such streaks are common on Mars They occur on steep slopes of craters troughs and valleys The streaks are dark at first They get lighter with age Sometimes they start in a tiny spot then spread out and go for hundreds of meters They have been seen to travel around obstacles like boulders 4 It is believed that they are avalanches of bright dust that expose a darker underlying layer However several ideas have been advanced to explain them Some involve water or even the growth of organisms 5 6 7 The streaks appear in areas covered with dust Much of the Martian surface is covered with dust Fine dust settles out of the atmosphere covering everything We know a lot about this dust because the solar panels of the Mars Rovers get covered with dust thus reducing the electrical energy The power of the Rovers has been restored many times by the wind in the form of dust devils cleaning the panels and boosting the power 8 Dust storms are frequent especially when the spring season begins in the southern hemisphere At that time Mars is 40 closer to the Sun The orbit of Mars is much more elliptical than the Earth s That is the difference between the farthest point from the Sun and the closest point to the Sun is very great for Mars but only a slight amount for the Earth Also every few years the entire planet is engulfed in global dust storms When NASA s Mariner 9 craft arrived there nothing could be seen through the dust storm 9 10 Other global dust storms have also been observed since that time nbsp The Olympica Fossae as seen by HiRISE Click on image to see rock layers in wall Interactive Mars map edit nbsp nbsp Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars Hover over the image to see the names of over 60 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 Whites and browns indicate the highest elevations 12 to 8 km followed by pinks and reds 8 to 3 km yellow is 0 km greens and blues are lower elevations down to 8 km Axes are latitude and longitude Polar regions are noted See also Mars Rovers map and Mars Memorial map view discuss References edit Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature Astrogeology Research Program United States Geological Survey Retrieved 20 March 2022 Carr M H 2006 The Surface of Mars Cambridge Planetary Science Series Cambridge University Press Mars Global Surveyor MOC2 620 Release http www space com image of day 080730 html dead link Archived copy Archived from the original on 2015 02 21 Retrieved 2009 03 16 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link http www space com scienceastronomy streaks mars streaks 030328 html dead link http www space com scienceastronomy mars dead link Mars Spirit Rover Gets Energy Boost from Cleaner Solar Panels Moore Patrick 2 June 1990 Atlas of the Solar System ISBN 0 517 00192 6 Hugh H Kieffer 1992 Mars University of Arizona Press ISBN 978 0 8165 1257 7 Retrieved 7 March 2011 See also edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Olympica Fossae Dark slope streaks Fossa geology HiRISE Mars Global Surveyor nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ceraunius Fossae Portal nbsp Solar System Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Olympica Fossae amp oldid 1167733212, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
