This curious sinuous ridge is located on the floor of Mareotis Fossae, a system of canyons/fractures that trend in a radial direction from Alba Mons.

The sinuous ridge is approximately 10 meters wide and several kilometers long. The floor surrounding this ridge has been eroding laterally, forming pits and circular features suggestive of removal (sublimation) of subsurface ice. However, landforms such as channels or moraines that might suggest the presence of water or ice are lacking, so the ridge itself does not appear to have formed by fluvial or glacial processes.

Perhaps this curious feature is an exhumed dike formed from magma emanating from Alba Mons in subsurface fractures.

ID: ESP_088990_2150
date: 21 July 2025
altitude: 287 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_088990_2150
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
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