Elysium quadrangle

Elysium quadrangle
Map of Elysium quadrangle from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data. The highest elevations are red and the lowest are blue.
Coordinates15°00′N 202°30′W / 15°N 202.5°W / 15; -202.5
Image of the Elysium Quadrangle (MC-15). The north includes relatively smooth lowland plains. Elysium Mons and Albor Tholus are in the northwest and Orcus Patera is in the east.

The Elysium quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Elysium quadrangle is also referred to as MC-15 (Mars Chart-15).[1]

The name Elysium refers to a place of reward (Heaven), according to Homer in the Odyssey.[2]

The Elysium quadrangle covers the area between 180° to 225° west longitude and 0° to 30° north latitude on Mars. The northern part of Elysium Planitia, a broad plain, is in this quadrangle. The Elysium quadrangle includes a part of Lucus Planum. A small part of the Medusae Fossae Formation lies in this quadrangle. The largest craters in this quadrangle are Eddie, Lockyer, and Tombaugh. The quadrangle contains the major volcanoes Elysium Mons and Albor Tholus, part of a volcanic province of the same name, as well as river valleys—one of which, Athabasca Valles may be one of the youngest on Mars. On the east side is an elongated depression called Orcus Patera. A large lake may once have existed in the south near Lethe Vallis and Athabasca Valles.[3]

The InSight lander touched down in the southern part of this quadrangle in 2018 to conduct geophysical studies.

  1. ^ Davies, M.E.; Batson, R.M.; Wu, S.S.C. “Geodesy and Cartography” in Kieffer, H.H.; Jakosky, B.M.; Snyder, C.W.; Matthews, M.S., Eds. Mars. University of Arizona Press: Tucson, 1992.
  2. ^ Blunck, J. 1982. Mars and its Satellites. Exposition Press. Smithtown, N.Y.
  3. ^ Cabrol, N. and E. Grin (eds.). 2010. Lakes on Mars. Elsevier. NY.