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It looks like a filmmaker's apocalyptic vision of Earth following a devastating natural disaster. But this colossal ice formation is actually a portion of the wall terraces of a huge crater on Mars. Approximately 37 miles in diameter, a section of the Mojave Crater in the planet's Xanthe Terra region has been digitally mapped by Nasa scientists.
The result is this digital terrain model that was generated from a stereo pair of images and offers a synthesized, oblique view of a 2.5-mile portion of the crater's wall terraces.
The sheer depth of the crater - about 1.6 miles - demonstrates that Mojave has experienced little infilling or erosion.
The result offers scientists a tantalising glimpse of what a very large complex crater looks like on Mars because it remains so fresh while most others - especially this size - have been affected by erosion, sedimentary infilling and overprinting by other geologic processes.
Such a fresh crater provides an insight into the impact process.
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