Closeups Of Mars Caves
On May 26th, I posted about those mysterious holes on the Martian surface. I wondered why there were no good closeup pictures of these features.
This one was recently snapped by the Mars Odyssey Orbiter, but no matter how much I search, I can’t find the original of this image on the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) site. The image above is from the Bad Astromony blog. I believe that the largest boulders are a few meters across.
The only image left at the HiRISE site is this one, which doesn’t look nearly as good.
The images are from the flanks of the extinct volcano Arsia Mons, and resemble similar features found on Earth when underground spaces and fissures cave in.
In the Mojave Desert Preserve, you can actually walk through similar geologic features, called “lava tubes.” I did this last February. There are other examples in Hawaii and New Mexico.
In a paper presented to the Lunar Planetary and Science conference last March Glen Cushing, Timothy Titus and J. Judson Wynne of the U.S. Geological Survey, in addition to Phil Christensen of Arizona State University wrote, “These holes, the size of football fields, may be the entrances to subterranean caverns. If the claims prove to be true, such caves would be prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life and prime real estate for future human settlements.”
I’m not sure if this issue has been blown out of proportion yet by the Hoagland types, but the pictures are fascinating, and the fact that microclimates may exist on the Red Planet and may be favorable to microbial life is exciting enough without resorting to further speculation.
…unless you would like to guess that there are ruins of ancient Martian cities down there.
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Dec 17 2007 
December 17th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Wow…that is a really good close up image. I lightened it a bit to bring out some details and posted it on my blog. Click on my name to see.
December 17th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Me & George Adamski already knew about these caves. We were taken aboard a spaceship with some blonde-headed, pot-smoking, LSD-dropping Venusians & flew there. Yes Greg, there are secret alien bases there….
December 17th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Given the nature of Martian weather(dust storms), it’s a wonder that these openings aren’t completely filled. The data that NASA(NSA) has put forth about Mars has only raised even more mystery than it’s resolved. The one that sticks in my mind is that Mars has liquid water but not very recently. Again given the ferocious nature of Martian weather wouldn’t a billion or so years of wind erosion scoured any trace of liquid water from the surface of Mars?
December 17th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I’m far from being a geologist, but considering what crgintx commented on, and since there are no signs of erosion, maybe these features a fairly recent. The structure of the martian crust in hat part may be swiss-chese like and a great deal of material could have collapsed and covered the entrance to a lava vent or something.
We should need closer looks and the use of spectrometers to try to measure if there’s any kind of gas leaking from those caves.
December 17th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
then again, maybe it is hibernating season for the martian Sarlaccs
December 18th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Has anyone seen the tape of “Alternative 3″. The footage of mars where the craft lands and everyone from mission control cheers. Then all of a sudden they see what appears to be movement towards the craft from underground then the transmission ends. Who knows the caves may not be formed by lava, just a joke; but, could they be from creatures like those from dune, the great snake or what ever. Just a thought, probably a misdirected one at that.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
I saw that “Alt 3″ once sasdave. It was really interesting, but the part where they messed up was the color of the martian sky.
Now, when I saw “The Simpsons Movie”, and the director of the EPA asks president Schwarzenegger to choose one of several alternative plans to deal with the pollution of Springfield, it really cracked me up when he chose # 3!!
- Eh…Don’t you want to read it first, Sir?
- I vas elected to lead, not to READ! #3!
December 18th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Richelle,
Good job on the photo imagery! I notice that the opening appears to continue to the side at the upper left. Reminds me of the lava tubes I hiked into.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
misteranderson,
When are you going on the lecture circuit? You could make a lot of $$!
December 18th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
crg and RPJ,
The cave I entered in the Mojave desert has been there for thousands of years, and it was still obvious. Is Mars completely covered with sand? I don’t know.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
sasdave,
Yay! Sandworms on Mars!
…but I’m still sticking with my “lava tube” belief.
December 19th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
RedPJ…The messing up with the sky seems to have happened on the so called moon shots too. What got more messed up was the dude that was found burnt dead in his car with only him and the driver seat damaged.
Greg…Those lava tubes wouldn’t they have softer texture on the walls of the caves. The pics above don’t appear to have the right look to have had lava coming from them, they appear to look more like a water spout. Wouldn’t there also be signs of excaped liquid matter. Your probably right to stick to the lava tube belief though.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:06 am
Dave,
I think, depending on the age of the tubes and the weathering that they are subjected to, they may not be smooth.
The Mars cave entances are pretty round, though. I wonder what caused that?