Noctis Labyrinthus Region

Credit: ESA, Posted on: Sunday, 9 December 2007, 09:19 CST Download full size image

This perspective view of the Noctis Labyrinthus region, the 'Labyrinth of the Night' on Mars was obtained with data from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), onboard ESA's Mars Express.

The HRSC took these pictures on 25 June 2006 in orbit 3155, with a ground resolution of approximately 16 m/pixel.

This perspective view has been calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels.

Noctis Labyrinthus lies at approximately 6.5° south and 260° east. The Sun illuminates the scene from the north-west, top right in the image above.

The region is located directly on the western edge of Valles Marineris, the ‘Grand Canyon’ of Mars. The closely-spaced, deeply incised, smaller, labyrinth-like fractures are eye-catching.

Noctis Labyrinthus forms part of a complex graben-system. This system formed due to extensional tectonics. During the process, intense volcanism in the Tharsis region led to the formation of a bulge, resulting in tectonic stress. This caused the crust to thin out and form graben structures, which are elongated, trench-like features bounded by parallel normal faults. As one can clearly see in the context map, the upper portion of the martian crust in this area is largely fractured.

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