MARSIS

The Medusae Fossae Formation, located near the Martian equator, is one of the youngest deposits on the planet. Over the last year the Mars Express has been orbiting this region to collect data using its Mars Advance Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding, revealing the depth of the MFF layers. The amount of time it took for the radar beam to pass through the MFF layers and strike solid rock revealed that they are mass deposits that are over 2.5 km thick. These regions have been difficult to study because of their ability to absorb Earth-based radar, therefore the MARSIS sends out wavelengths of a different size, resulting in surface echoing. Hopefully the new information obtained from MARSIS will provide information about the origins and composition of these deposits.