Orcus Patera is an enigmatic elliptical depression. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum
This is one of the strangest looking craters ever found on Mars, and this platypus-tail-shaped 
It could be an impact crater that originally was round, but then subsequently deformed by compressional forces. Or, it could have formed from two craters next to each where the adjoining rims eroded. However, the most likely explanation is that it was made in an oblique impact, when a small body struck the surface at a very shallow angle.
Relief image of Orcus Patera. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
It is 380 km long by by 140 km wide, and has a rim that rises up to 1,800 meters above the surrounding plains, while the floor of the depression lies 400–600 m below the surroundings. The floor of the depression is unusually smooth.The image above was created using a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) obtained from the High Resolution Stereo

Source: ESA
0 comments:
Post a Comment