Martian Volcanic Province Imaged from Orbit

Recent investigations of the Sytris Major region on Mars have revealed an impressive area of formerly-intense volcanic activity. The calderas have been inactive for billions of years, but they do remind investigators of a time when our neighboring planet was very geologically active.

When it first formed, Mars also had a moving core and plate tectonics, just like Earth does. These processes unfortunately concluded ahead of time, due to a wide array of changes the planet suffered.

However, they left behind telltale signs, as did the surface water that once flowed on the Red Planet. Scientists have discovered deltas, former river canals, water-deposited sediments and even the contours of what may have very well been a surface ocean, all depicting a world that may have supported life.

During Mars' activity period, an impressive volcanic province formed on its surface, occupying a surface area of 1,300 by 1,500 kilometers (807.8 by 932 miles). This makes Syrtis Major viewable from Earth, even with small telescopes.

The feature was first identified b Christiaan Huygens back in 1659. The NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission, which has been analyzing Saturn, its ring system and its moons since 2004, is named after the old astronomer.

Over time, astronomers became convinced that the area showed the contours of a former sea. It was only when Mars started becoming the target of advanced exploration spacecraft that geologists finally figured out the region's true make-up.

Recently, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft managed to collect a series of new pictures of the area, revealing it from several angles, and in multiple wavelengths.

These photos “show lava flows that flooded the older highland material, leaving behind buttes – isolated hills with steep sides that were too high to be affected,” a press release from ESA reads.

“They can be identified by their lighter colours and their eroded state, and some even show ancient valleys on their flanks. Individual lava flows, filled craters and partly-filled craters can be made out in the images,” the statement adds.

Mars Express has been observing the Red Planet since achieving orbital insertion around it, on December 25, 2003. The mission was launched on June 2, 2003, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. It was carried to orbit aboard a Russian-built Soyuz-FG/Fregat rocket.