Ancient Caldera

Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum), Posted on: Tuesday, 13 June 2006, 06:08 CDT Download full size image

This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows the caldera of Apollinaris Patera, an ancient, 5-kilometre-high volcano northwest of Gusev Crater.

The HRSC obtained this image during orbit 987 with a ground resolution of approximately 11.1 metres per pixel. It shows part of Apollinaris Patera, a volcano lying at approximately 7.2° South and 174.6° East.

Apollinaris Patera is an ancient shield volcano located at the northern edge of the Southern Highlands, lying to the south-east of Elysium Planitia and to the north of Gusev Crater, which is now being explored by NASA's Mars Rover, Spirit.

The volcano measures approximately 180 by 280 kilometres at its base and rises to a maximum of 5 kilometres above the surrounding terrain.

Shield volcanos are large volcanic structures with gently sloping flanks. The caldera of Apollinaris Patera takes the form of a large crater approximately 80 kilometres in diameter and up to 1 kilometre deep. Volcanic calderas are formed when a volcano explodes or when the cone collapses.

This false-color image was captured on 26 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 11.1 metres per pixel.

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