Anseris Mons is an isolated

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

(mountain) in the southern highlands of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, located at the northeastern edge of

Hellas Planitia Hellas Planitia is a plain located within the huge, roughly circular impact basin Hellas located in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. Hellas is the third- or fourth-largest known impact crater in the Solar System. The basin floor i ...

at longitude 86.65°E and latitude 29.81°S. The mountain is in diameter and rises to an elevation of approximately 4,200 m (13,780 ft) above

datum In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted. ...

( martian "sea" level) or about 6,200 m (20,300 ft) above the surrounding plains. The mountain lies in the southeastern quarter of the

Iapygia quadrangle The Iapygia quadrangle (geography), 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 Iapygia quadrangle is also referred ...

(MC-21), straddling the boundary with the adjoining

Hellas quadrangle The Hellas quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Hellas quadrangle is also referred to as MC-28 (Mars Chart-28). The Hellas quadrangle c ...

(MC-28) to the south. Anseris Mons is named from Anseris Fons, a telescopic albedo feature mapped by Greek astronomer

E. M. Antoniadi Eugène Michel Antoniadi (Greek: Ευγένιος Αντωνιάδης; 1 March 1870 – 10 February 1944) was a Greek-French astronomer. Biography Antoniadi was born in Istanbul (Constantinople) but spent most of his adult life in France ...

in 1930. The name was approved by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

(IAU) in 1991. Anseris Mons is not a volcano. Geologically, the massif is thought to be the eroded remnant of an ancient

crustal block Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by relat ...

uplifted from depths of several kilometersLeonard, G.J.; Tanaka, K.L. (2001)
Geologic Map of the Hellas Region of Mars
Pamphlet to Accompany Map I-2694. U.S. Geological Survey, p. 3. in the formation of the Hellas impact basin during the period of heavy bombardment.Leonard, G.J.; Tanaka, K.L. (2001)
Geologic Map of the Hellas Region of Mars
U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Investigations Series I-2694. Anseris Mons is the type area for a large set of rugged mountain blocks (>25 km across) that occur in a relatively continuous band 200 to 500 km wide around the western, northeastern, eastern, and southeastern rim of the Hellas basin. Many of the blocks, particularly along the western rim, are concentric with the basin and bounded by faults. Rocks making up Anseris Mons and other massifs around Hellas are mapped as

Noachian The Noachian is a geologic system and early time period on the planet Mars characterized by high rates of meteorite and asteroid impacts and the possible presence of abundant surface water. The absolute age of the Noachian period is uncertain ...

in age.Greeley, R; Guest, J.E. (1987) Geologic Map of the Eastern Equatorial Region of Mars. U.S. Geological Survey, M 15M, 0/270 G. However, work by Herbert Frey at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center using Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data indicates that the southern highlands of Mars contain numerous buried impact basins that are older than the visible Noachian-aged surfaces and which pre-date the Hellas impact. He suggests that the Hellas impact should mark the beginning of the Noachian period (base of the Noachian system). If Frey is correct, then Anseris Mons bedrock is actually pre-Noachian in age, perhaps dating back to over 4.1 billion years ago.Carr, M.H.; Head, J.W. (2010). Geologic History of Mars. ''Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,'' 294, 185–203. . The Anseris Mons massif has undergone a significant amount of erosion since it was uplifted. The flanks of the mountain have huge triangular re-entrants and associated spurs, which give the massif a broad, pyramidal shape. The re-entrants were likely produced through a variety of mass-wasting and

periglacial Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", also referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing of snow in areas of permafrost, the runoff from which refreezes in ice wedges and o ...

/glacial processes. A large cirque-like re-entrant with channelized debris aprons or

fans Fan commonly refers to: * Fan (machine), a machine for producing airflow, often used for cooling ** Hand fan, an implement held and waved by hand to move air for cooling * Fan (person), short for fanatic; an enthusiast or supporter, especially wit ...

is present on the south side of the mountain.

Images

Image:Anseris Mons.jpg, Anseris Mons Image:Anseris Mons HiRISE.jpg, Northern face of Anseris Mons showing areas of exposed bedrock.

References

{{Portal bar, Solar System Mountains on Mars Iapygia quadrangle Hellas quadrangle

Images

See also

References