Aram Chaos region of Mars

This map shows the Aram Chaos region of Mars - a crater 280 km in diameter lying almost directly on the martian equator. In this region, the OMEGA instrument on board ESA's Mars Express found mineralogical evidence for large-scale deposits of ferric oxides (commonly known as 'rust' on Earth) and sulphates. The findings are relevant as these features are also common to other regions of Mars, widely separated from Aram Chaos, providing new hints to understand the past martian climate.

This image is the results of the superimposition of a MOLA digital elevation model with THEMIS visible images. The inset indicates the location of Aram Chaos on a MOLA topographic map of Mars.