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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Aproned mesas in Deuteronilus Mensae, Mars (3D)

Aproned mesas in Deuteronilus Mensae, Mars (3D)
Aproned mesas in Deuteronilus Mensae, Mars (3D) In many places, Mars' northern lowlands are separated from its southern highlands by "fretted terrain," a landscape of steep cliffs and table mountains, or mesas. Here, in an area named Deuteronilus Mensae, which is considerably north of the equator, the mesas have strangely textured aprons at their feet. Many lines of evidence suggest that these aprons contain ice underneath the dust and rock visible at the surface. The image is about 200 kilometers wide. More formats: Left stereo | Right stereo | Flicker gif ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) / Emily Lakdawalla

The above is a red-blue anaglyph. Use 3D glasses (red over left eye, blue over right) to see it in 3D.

Stereo View

Aproned mesas in Deuteronilus Mensae, Mars (3D)
Aproned mesas in Deuteronilus Mensae, Mars (3D)

Flicker GIF

Aproned mesas in Deuteronilus Mensae, Mars (3D)

Part of HRSC image 1483_0000. Here is the data on the HRSCview website, and also on the ASU Mars Data website. This is the same image as in ESA's Deuteronilus Mensae release, but it shows a different cropped area. It is a wider view of the region shown in this color image.

Source data was Level 3, meaning that it has all been reprojected onto a MOLA topographic map. That has the effect of removing large-scale topography (regional slopes and the larger topographic features, including the mesas) while leaving in small-scale topography (crater rims, cliff scarps, et cetera). Differences in illumination probably result from different path lengths through the atmosphere? The left-eye (red, in the anaglyph) image is stereo channel 2, the right-eye image stereo channel 1. The image has been rotated to place north at left in order to make the stereo sensible to the human eye.