Newly Discoverd Mars 'Island' Confounds NASA Scientists
- 10 years ago
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a photograph of the Red plant revealing what appears to be a landform within a lava flow.
Mars is no stranger to bizarre occurrences, from the famous "face on Mars" to the ongoing theory that aliens exist.
Now a photograph taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has NASA scratching their heads.
The high resolution image shows what appears to be a wrinkly shaped landform in the middle of smooth lava.
The circular mass measures approximately 1.2 miles wide and is located in the Athabasca region known for younger lava flows.
NASA has theorized that volcanic activity might have been responsible with lava making its way underneath the mass and pushing it up forming the island.
They said, "It looks as if material is missing from the mound, so it is also possible that there was a significant amount of ice in the mound that was driven out by the heat of the lava."
Other strange island-like structures have been seen in that area of the Red Planet, and continue to baffle scientists.
The photograph, along with others taken of nearby areas, will be studied in hopes of finding an explanation as to how the island came to be.
Mars is no stranger to bizarre occurrences, from the famous "face on Mars" to the ongoing theory that aliens exist.
Now a photograph taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has NASA scratching their heads.
The high resolution image shows what appears to be a wrinkly shaped landform in the middle of smooth lava.
The circular mass measures approximately 1.2 miles wide and is located in the Athabasca region known for younger lava flows.
NASA has theorized that volcanic activity might have been responsible with lava making its way underneath the mass and pushing it up forming the island.
They said, "It looks as if material is missing from the mound, so it is also possible that there was a significant amount of ice in the mound that was driven out by the heat of the lava."
Other strange island-like structures have been seen in that area of the Red Planet, and continue to baffle scientists.
The photograph, along with others taken of nearby areas, will be studied in hopes of finding an explanation as to how the island came to be.