DESCRIPTION AND
DATA SHEET

Acheron Fossae
Arcadia Planitia, Mars

Acheron Fossae is a classic set of parallel fault-bounded valleys, or graben. Graben form when the crust is stretched and fractured. When two parallel faults form, the block of crust between them may drop down, forming a graben. The ridge between two faults is called a horst. The graben in this scene are typically 3 to 5 kilometers wide.

Acheron Fossae is located on the northern edge of the Tharsis plateau. It is part of a radial network of extensional fractures centered on Tharsis that formed when the plateau was uplifted. The uplift caused the crust over the plateau to fracture. A concentric set of fractures (shown at Thaumasia Fossae) formed later when the plateau became too massive and began to spread laterally.

DATA SHEET (Top)

Location:
     38.0 N, 131.5 W
Quadrangle:
     MC-2 (Diacria)
Mission:
     Viking 1
Image Numbers:
     129A40, 130A31
Image Resolution
(Full-Sized View):
     186 meters/pixel
Image Width:
     124 kilometers
Vertical Exaggeration:
     0.5 × Normal
Vertical Resolution:
     52 meters
Spacecraft Altitude:
     5640 kilometers
Convergence Angle:
     5°