Cones Formed by Hot Lava Running over Water or Ice
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Cones Formed by Hot Lava Running over Water or Ice
ESP_018747_2065  Science Theme: Volcanic Processes
These cones are similar in size and shape to cones found in Iceland where hot lava has run over wet ground.

The heat from the lava boils the water which bursts through the lava flow. These steam-driven exploding bubbles of lava throw chunks of molten and solid lava into the air.

A long series of such explosions is needed to build up one of the large cones. The cones appear in chains because the surface of the lava flow was moving while the series of explosions were taking place. This is sort of like a miniature version of how the Hawaiian Island chain forms. The hot spot under Hawaii is fixed but the Earth's crust slides past it.



Written by: Lazslo Kestay  (1 September 2010)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_018457_2065.
 
Acquisition date
27 July 2010

Local Mars time
15:13

Latitude (centered)
26.262°

Longitude (East)
173.551°

Spacecraft altitude
289.5 km (179.9 miles)

Original image scale range
30.6 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~92 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
19.6°

Phase angle
63.9°

Solar incidence angle
45°, with the Sun about 45° above the horizon

Solar longitude
124.1°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  10.7°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (830MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (361MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (425MB)
non-map           (346MB)

IRB color
map projected  (116MB)
non-map           (265MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (203MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (197MB)

RGB color
non map           (257MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM)
DTM details page

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.