Mare Australe Quadrangle - Notable Features

Notable Features

Around the southern ice cap is a surface, called the Dorsa Argentea Formation that may be an old ice-rich deposit. It contains a group of sinuous, branched ridges that resembles eskers that form when streams are under glaciers. The formation often contains pits: two major locations are named Cavi Angusti and Cavi Sisyphi. The pits have steep sides and an irregular shape. They are up to 50 km across and 1 km deep.

The quadrangle also contains Angustus Labyrinthus, a formation of intersecting valley or ridges, nicknamed the "Inca City". Researchers were surprised to see parts of the surface having a swiss-cheese appearance. Also, some areas showed strange spider-shaped forms, which were determined to be caused by carbon dioxide gas blowing dust around at certain times of the year.

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