The formation of the approximately 150-kilometer diameter Holden Crater interrupted the northward flowing Uzboi Vallis channel system. Relief associated with the rim of Holden effectively blocked the channel.

This image covers the portion of the crater's rim where it was overtopped by water that had backed up in Uzboi Vallis to the south. Water flowing over the rim in multiple locations eventually focused on a single channel that then cut deeply into the rim.

After the impounded water drained into the crater, the steep wall on the east side of the main channel collapsed in a landslide that remains visible along the floor. Several outcroppings of variably bright material are visible in the scar produced by the slide.



Written by: John Grant  (10 October 2007)


This is a stereo pair with PSP_003288_1530.