Abalos Mensa

Abalos Mensa
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Close-up of USGS map showing the location of Abalos Mensa in Planum Boreum in the vicinity of Rupes Tenuis, showing also Abalos Colles, Abalos Scopuli, and Tenuis Mensa.
Coordinates81°10′N 284°24′E / 81.17°N 284.4°E / 81.17; 284.4

Abalos Mensa is a wedge-shaped mound,[1] or mensa and one of the named features in the vicinity of Planum Boreum, the Martian North pole. It is named after one of the classical albedo features on Mars.[2] Its name was officially approved by IAU in 2006. It extends from latitude 80.21°N to 82.4°N and from longitude 279.34°E to 290.52°E (69.48°W – 80.66°W).[2] Its centre is located at latitude 81.17°N, longitude 284.4°E (75.6°W), and has a diameter of 129.18 km.[2]

Abalos Mensa is a convex formation of approximately 180 kilometer span, with a top-view shaped like a wedge,[3][1] and lies immediately to the south of the Rupes Tenuis scarp, approximately at 285ºE.[1] In the neighbourhood of Abalos Mensa is the beginning of the dune field of Abalos Undae which continues in a southwestward direction after it emerges from the western end of a narrow channel separating Rupes Tenuis from Abalos Mensa.[3] Crotone crater, located at 82.2ºN, 290.0ºE with a 6.4 km diameter, is situated at the channel separating the Rupes Tenuis scarp from Abalos Mensa.[3] West of Abalos Mensa, parallel to and south of the Rupes Tenuis scarp, runs a narrow, low-altitude plain, named Tenuis Mensa, which exhibits a southward slope.[4][5] The southern part of Abalos Mensa ends in a scarp called Abalos Scopuli.[6]

  1. ^ a b c T. C. Brothers; J. W. Holt; A. Spiga. "ABALOS MENSA, PLANUM BOREUM, MARS: A CONSTRUCTIONAL, AEOLIAN HISTORY DERIVED FROM RADAR AND OPTICAL STRATIGRAPHY, REINFORCED BY ATMOSPHERIC MODELING" (PDF). 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2012).
  2. ^ a b c "Abalos Mensa". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS.
  3. ^ a b c Kenneth L. Tanaka; J. Alexis P. Rodriguez; James A. Skinner Jr; Mary C. Bourke; Corey M. Fortezzo; Kenneth E. Herkenhoff; Eric J. Kolb; Chris H. Okubo (28 February 2008). "North polar region of Mars: Advances in stratigraphy, structure, and erosional modification". Icarus. 196 (2): 318–358. Bibcode:2008Icar..196..318T. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2008.01.021. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  4. ^ Kenneth L. Tanaka and Corey M. Fortezzo. "Geologic Map of the North Polar Region of Mars" (PDF). USGS.
  5. ^ Matthew R. Balme (2011). Martian Geomorphology. Geological Society of London. p. 257. ISBN 978-1-86239-330-1.
  6. ^ "Planetary names" (PDF). USGS.