Mensa on Mars

Once part of a grand mountain, the remains of Ausonia Mensa rise up from the surface of Mars.

The European Space Agency’s Mars Express craft built this perspective view of Ausonia Mensa with its high-resolution camera. The feature is a large remnant mountain that sports several craters as it stretches to an elevation of about 3,700 meters. The mountain covers a swath of Mars that runs 98 kilometers long and about 48 kilometers wide.

A large crater, approximately 7.5 kilometers in diameter and 870 meters deep, has been partially filled with sediment, while a large gully cuts across the northern flank. The western flank of the mountain is dominated by a large crater, about six kilometers in diameter.