Cerberus Palus

Cerberus Palus is a plain in the Elysium quadrangle of Mars, centered at 5.8°N 148.1°E / 5.8; 148.1. It is 470 km across and was named after a classical albedo feature Cerberus.[1]

Cerberus Palus
Cerberus Palus, as seen by THEMIS.
Coordinates5.5°N 150.5°E / 5.5; 150.5

Cerberus Palus once contained a lake fed by Athabasca Valles and draining into Lethe Vallis. According to different researches, it could be a lake of water[2] or lava.[3] It is notable by giant plates (up to 50 km and more), similar to pack ice,[2] but possibly pieces of lava crust.[3] Gaps between the plates contain spiral-shaped geological features, probably lava coils.[3][4]

References
  1. "Cerberus Palus". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. Murray J. B.; Muller J.-P.; Neukum G.; et al. (2005). "Evidence from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera for a frozen sea close to Mars' equator". Nature (Nature ed.). 434 (7031): 352–356. Bibcode:2005Natur.434..352M. doi:10.1038/nature03379. PMID 15772653. S2CID 4373323.
  3. Ryan, A. J.; Christensen, P. R. (26 April 2012). "Coils and Polygonal Crust in the Athabasca Valles Region, Mars, as Evidence for a Volcanic History". Science. 336 (6080): 449–452. Bibcode:2012Sci...336..449R. doi:10.1126/science.1219437. PMID 22539716. S2CID 39352082.
  4. Lakdawalla, Emily. "Swirly lava patterns in beautiful HiRISE images". Retrieved 27 April 2012.


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