How to make a rocky road... Martian-style? š“
This new image from our Mars Express is a visual feast: meet Deuteronilus Cavus, a 120 km-wide crater on Mars thatās layered with signs of ancient volcanoes, glaciers, water erosion, and windblown dust.
It began as a classic impact crater, formed when a space rock slammed into Mars 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago. But that was just the base layer. Over time, lava spread across the region, water carved channels, ice froze and thawed, and winds reshaped the surface.
In close-up views, youāll spot:
- Grooves left by glacial movement
- Channels possibly formed by flowing water
- Jumbled blocks that resemble rocky road cake
- Wrinkle ridges from volcanic activity
The crater is a geological time capsule ā each feature telling a story of Marsās evolving climate and surface.
Deuteronilus Cavus lies where Marsās highlands meet the lowlands, and its ice-rich features likely formed when the planetās tilt shifted, triggering glaciation at these mid-l...