The European Space Agency (ESA) has taken a picture of the Meridiani Planum on Mars using the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera. To orient yourself, remember that North in this image is to your right. Therefore, looking at the volcanic crater, you can see that the prevailing winds are from the North-East, and are blowing the volcanic ash out of the crater into long streaks.
Meridiani Planum, at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars, lies between the volcanic Tharsis Region to the west and the low-lying Hellas Planitia impact basin to the south-east. Through a telescope, Meridiani Planum is a striking, dark feature, close to the martian equator. It extends 127 km by 63 km and covers an area of roughly 8000 sq km, about the size of Cyprus. This dark material probably resembles volcanic ash, which is predominantly composed of minerals such as pyroxene and olivine.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
via ESA – Mars Express – Volcanic ash in Meridiani Planum – images.
