Dark Light

This region of Xanthe Terra has mostly been contracted due to thrust faulting, but this local region shows evidence of extensional faulting, also called normal faulting.

When two normal faults face each other, they create a bathtub-like depression called a “graben.” 


Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona https://www.uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_045497_1800
Related Posts

Lines of Pits in Protonilus Mensae

This observation shows a lobe-shaped debris apron emanating from a massif (shown in the upper left of the image) in the Protonilus Mensae region in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars.
Mound in Chryse Planitia

A Lonely Mound in Chryse Planitia

A simple proposition: to compare and contrast this pitted mound that is similar in appearance to those in Utopia Planitia, but rarely observed here in Chryse Planitia.