Depressions and Channels on the Floor of Lyot Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Depressions and Channels on the Floor of Lyot Crater
ESP_052628_2310  Science Theme: Fluvial Processes
Lyot Crater (220-kilometers in diameter) is located in the Northern lowlands of Mars. The crater’s floor marks the lowest elevation in the Northern Hemisphere.

On the crater’s floor, we see a network of channels connecting a series of irregular shaped pits. These resemble terrestrial beaded streams, which are common in the Arctic regions of Earth and develop from uneven permafrost thawing.

If terrestrial beaded streams are a good analog, these landforms suggest liquid water flow in the past. If not then these pits may result from the process of sublimation and would indicate pockets of easily accessible near-surface ground ice, which might have potentially preserved evidence of past habitability.

Written by: Natalie Glines and Ginny Gulick (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (11 December 2017)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_052694_2310.
 
Acquisition date
18 October 2017

Local Mars time
14:44

Latitude (centered)
50.787°

Longitude (East)
29.043°

Spacecraft altitude
307.1 km (190.9 miles)

Original image scale range
31.1 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~93 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
7.0°

Phase angle
47.9°

Solar incidence angle
41°, with the Sun about 49° above the horizon

Solar longitude
75.6°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  98°
Sub-solar azimuth:  341.6°
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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.