Hephaestus Fossae
Encyclopedia
Hephaestus Fossae is a system of troughs and channels in the Cebrenia quadrangle
of Mars, with a location centered at 21.1 N and 237.5 W. It is 604 km long and was named after a classical albedo feature name. The Fossae have been tentatively identified as outflow channels
, but their origin and evolution remain ambiguous. It has been proposed that water may have been released into the troughs as a catastrophic flood due to subsurface ice melting following a large bolide impact.
Cebrenia quadrangle
The Cebrenia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Research Program. The quadrangle is located in the northeastern portion of Mars’ eastern hemisphere and covers 120° to 180° east longitude and 30° to 65° north latitude...
of Mars, with a location centered at 21.1 N and 237.5 W. It is 604 km long and was named after a classical albedo feature name. The Fossae have been tentatively identified as outflow channels
Outflow channels
Outflow channels is the term used to describe extremely long, wide swathes of scoured ground on Mars, commonly containing the streamlined remnants of pre-existing topography and other linear erosive features indicating sculpting by fluids moving downslope...
, but their origin and evolution remain ambiguous. It has been proposed that water may have been released into the troughs as a catastrophic flood due to subsurface ice melting following a large bolide impact.