Astronomy:Orcus Patera
Orcus Patera is a region on the surface of the planet Mars first photographed by Mariner 4. Of unknown formation, whether by volcanic, tectonic, or cratering causes, the region includes a depression about 380 kilometres (240 miles) long, 140 kilometres (87 miles) wide, surrounded by a rim up to 1.8 kilometres (1 mile) high.
Description
Orcus Patera was first imaged by Mariner 4.[1] It is a depression about 380 kilometres (240 miles) long, 140 kilometres (87 miles) wide, and about 0.5 kilometres (1⁄3 mile) deep but with a relatively smooth floor.[2] It has a rim up to 1.8 kilometres (1 mile) high.[2]
It has experienced aeolian processes, and has some small craters and graben structures.[2] However, it is not known how the patera originally formed.[2] Theories include volcanic, tectonic, or cratering events.[2] A study in 2000 that incorporated new results from Mars Global Surveyor along with older Viking data, did not come out clearly in favor of either volcanic or cratering processes.[3]
Mars Express observed this region in 2005, yielding a digital terrain model and color pictures.[2]
Images
Viking
Mars Express
Location
Orcus Patera is west of Olympus Mons and east of Elysium Mons.[2] It is about halfway between those two volcanoes, and east and north of Gale crater.
See also
- Marte Vallis
- Tartarus Colles
- Schiller (crater) (elongated Lunar feature)
- Eden Patera (suspect collapsed caldera or impact crater)
External links
- ESA - Mars’s mysterious elongated crater (27 August 2010)
- Google Mars - Orcus Patera
- Crater in Orcus Patera (MRO HiRISE)
- http://www.uahirise.org/results.php?keyword=Orcus+Patera&order=release_date&submit=Search
- Orcus Patera : Impact Crater or Volcanic Caldera? (2000)
References
- ↑ Williams, Dave; Friedlander, Jay. "The Orcus Patera region on Mars". NASA. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/m04_03b.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "HRSC Press Release #471 - Orcus Patera (orbit 2216 & 2238)". 2010-08-27. http://www.planet.geo.fu-berlin.de/eng/projects/mars/hrsc471-OrcusPatera.php.
- ↑ Orcus Patera : Impact Crater or Volcanic Caldera? (2000)
- ↑ "Catalog Page for PIA00175". http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00175.
Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orcus Patera.
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