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Strange Patterns in Echus Chasma

This image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft shows bright and dark patterns with curving boundaries. This region of Echus Chasma has been flooded by lava flows that produced rough and smooth surfaces.
PIA20209
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
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This image shows bright and dark patterns with curving boundaries, a good example of Mars art. What caused this appearance?

This region of Echus Chasma has been flooded by lava flows that produced rough and smooth surfaces. The rough areas then trap bright dust, creating the contrasts in brightness.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.