Chaotic terrain between Kasei Valles and Sacra Fossae Mars
Express flew over the boundary between Kasei Valles and Sacra
Fossae and imaged the region, acquiring spectacular views of the
chaotic terrain in the area. The images, obtained by the High
Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), are centred at 12°N / 285°E and
have a ground resolution of about 21 m/pixel. They cover 225 x
95 km or 21.375 sq km, an area roughly half the size of the
Netherlands. The upper portion of the image swath shows the
eastern margin of Kasei Valles and the western margin of the
Lunae Planum plateau and the adjoining Sacra Fossae. Kasei
Valles is one of the largest outflow channels on Mars, spanning
3000 km, from the Chryse Planitia basin in the north to Echus
Chasma to the south. Sacra Fossae is a fault system that extends
for more than 1000 km. It is several hundred metres deep and
separates Kasei Valles to the south and west from Lunae Planum.
It was named after Isola Sacra, an island at the estuary of the
river Tiber in Italy. The im