Arcadia Quadrangle - Fossa

Fossa

Large troughs (long narrow depressions) are called fossae in the geographical language used for Mars. This term is derived from Latin; therefore fossa is singular and fossae are plural. These troughs form when the crust is stretched until it breaks. The stretching can be due to the large weight of a nearby volcano. Fossae/pit craters are common near volcanoes in the Tharsis and Elysium system of volcanoes. A trough often has two breaks with a middle section moving down, leaving steep cliffs along the sides; such a trough is called a graben. Lake George, in northern New York State, is a lake that sits in a graben. Pit craters are often associated with graben. Pit craters do not have rims or ejecta around them, like impact craters do. Studies have found that on Mars a fault may be as deep as 5 km, that is the break in the rock goes down to 5 km. Moreover, the crack or fault sometimes widens or dilates. This widening causes a void to form with a relatively high volume. When surface material slides into the void, a pit crater or a pit crater chain forms. On Mars, individual pit craters can join to form chains or even to form troughs that are sometimes scalloped. Other ideas have been suggested for the formation of fossae and pit craters. There is evidence that they are associated with dikes of magma. Magma might move along, under the surface, breaking the rock and more importantly melting ice. The resulting action would cause a crack to form at the surface. Pit craters are not common on Earth. Sinkholes, where the ground falls into a hole (sometimes in the middle of a town) resemble pit craters on Mars. However, on the Earth these holes are caused by limestone being dissolved thereby causing a void.

Knowledge of the locations and formation mechanisms of pit craters and fossae is important for the future colonization of Mars because they may be reservoirs of water. Many grabens are found in the Arcadia quadrangle. Pictures below show examples of grabens in Arcadia.

• Graben near Alba Patera, as seen by THEMIS. Graben and catenae, collapse features, both caused by faults. When the crust is stretched, faults form and material falls into voids created by the stretching. Uranius Tholus (upper) and Ceraunius Tholus (largest) volcanoes are visible in wide context view, below and to the right of Alba Patera.

• Forces from different directions caused this complex of grabens to form. Picture taken by THEMIS.

• Mareotis Fossae Region, as seen by HiRISE.

• Tempe Fossae Sinuous Channel, as seen by HiRISE.