- Elysium Planitia
MarsGeo-Plains
name=Elysium Planitia
caption=
location=
latitude=2.0
N_or_S=N
longitude=155
E_or_W=E
area=
discoverer
naming=Elysium Planitia is the second largest volcanic region on
Mars , afterTharsis Montes . It includes volcanoes, from north to south,Hecates Tholus ,Elysium Mons andAlbor Tholus . It is centered at coord|2.0|155.0|globe:Mars.A
2005 photo of Elysium Planitia by theMars Express spacecraft shows what may be ash-covered water ice. The volume of ice is estimated to be 800 by 900 kilometers in size and 45 meters deep, similar in size and depth to theNorth Sea . [cite news| url=http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7039| title='Pack ice' suggests frozen sea on Mars| publisher=New Scientist| date=2005-02-25| first=Kelly| last=Young| accessdate=2007-30-01] The ice is thought to be the remains of water floods and lava flows in theCerberus Fossae fissures about 2 to 10 million years ago. The surface of the area is broken into 'plates' like broken ice floating on a lake. Impact crater counts show that the plates are up to 1 million years older than the gap material, showing that the area solidified much too slowly for the material to be basaltic lava. [cite journal
last = John B. Murray et al.
title = Evidence ... for a frozen sea close to Mars' equator
journal = Nature
volume = 434
pages = 352–355
date = 17 March 2007
publisher =
doi = 10.1038/nature03379 ]ee also
*
List of plains on Mars
*Geography of Mars
*Geology of Mars References
External links
* [http://www.google.com/mars/#lat=14.859850&lon=158.115234&zoom=4&q=Elysium%20Planitia Google Mars] - zoomable map centered on Elysium Planitia, with three main volcanoes visible
* [http://www.google.com/mars/#lat=9.876863&lon=157.719726&zoom=8&]
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