The Electris deposits are 100–200 m thick, light-toned sediments on Mars. They appear to be weak because few boulders are seen associated with them. The deposit mostly covers ground from 30° S to 45° S and from 160° E to 200° E. So, some of it lies in the

Phaethontis quadrangle The Phaethontis quadrangle is one of a series of list of quadrangles on Mars, 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Phaethontis quadrangle (geography), quadrangle is also ...

and the rest in

Eridania quadrangle The Eridania quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Eridania quadrangle is also referred to as MC-29 (Mars Chart-29). The Eridania quadr ...

. Recent work with HiRISE images lead scientists to believe that the deposit is an accumulation of

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

that initially were produced from volcanic materials in

Tharsis Tharsis () is a vast volcanic plateau centered near the equator in the western hemisphere of Mars. The region is home to the largest volcanoes in the Solar System, including the three enormous shield volcanoes Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, and A ...

or other volcanic centers. Using a global climate model, a group of researchers headed by Laura Kerber found that the Electris deposits could have easily been formed from ash from the volcanoes

Apollinaris Mons Apollinaris Mons is an ancient shield volcano in the southern hemisphere of Mars. It is situated near the equator, south of Elysium Planitia and north of the impact crater Gusev (the landing site of the Mars rover '' Spirit''). Elysium Planitia ...

Arsia Mons Arsia Mons is the southernmost of three volcanoes (collectively known as Tharsis Montes) on the Tharsis bulge near the equator of the planet Mars. To its north is Pavonis Mons, and north of that is Ascraeus Mons. The tallest volcano in the So ...

, and possibly

Pavonis Mons Pavonis Mons (Latin for "peacock mountain") is a large shield volcano located in the Tharsis region of the planet Mars. It is the middle member of a chain of three volcanic mountains (collectively known as the Tharsis Montes) that straddle the ...

. Its name is one of the

Classical albedo features on Mars The classical albedo features of Mars are the light and dark features that can be seen on the planet Mars through an Earth-based telescope. Before the age of space probes, several astronomers created maps of Mars on which they gave names to the fe ...

. In mythology it was the principal island of the "Electrides", islands said to produce amber. Image:Electris Depsoit.jpg, Electris deposit, as seen by HiRISE. Electris deposit is light-toned and smooth in the image in contrast to rough materials below. Location is

. Image:Electris Deposit Layers.jpg, Layers in light-toned Electris deposit, as seen by HiRISE. Gullies are visible on the left.

References

Eridania quadrangle Phaethontis quadrangle {{Mars-stub