The Electris deposits is 100–200 m thick deposit that is light-toned and appears to be weak because few boulders are seen associated with it. 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 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
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a 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 loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
that initially were produced from volcanic materials in
Tharsis 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 may refer to:
Personal name
* Apollinaris, a correspondent of Pliny the Younger (61–c. 112)
* Apollinaris of Ravenna (flourished 1st or 2nd century), martyr and first bishop of Ravenna, the most prominent of several saints called ...
,
Arsia Mons, and possibly
Pavonis Mons.
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 Phaethontis quadrangle.
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
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