Arabia Terra: Cave? or just Shadow?

Hello there to all my ATSers.

This is my very first started thread and hopefully I get it to work without editing afterwards.

I came across this cave (my opinion) when looking at Google Mars and thought it was worth sharing. I searched first on ATS regarding this but did not find anything, so if someone shows me a thread talking about this then I will happily ask the mods to remove this thread.

Now, The cave entrance I am talking about is located on the Arabia Terra as I will show you below. I had a hard time locating this HiRise image but found it at the end at this location:

HiRise PSP_002047_1890

Look down and download JP2 Grayscale, BEWARE this file is a whopping 905.80 MB. But worth downloading as it is detailed beyond belief.

I made 8 screenshots from the above file as seen below, in case you do not want to download this huge file. The last screenshot has been rotated 180 degrees.













You can look at it yourself in Google Mars at this location: 8°51'50.10"N 1° 5'6.34"W

Below you find 8 screenshots from Google Mars at the above location.






Rotated 180 degrees:





Tilted




So guys, what do you think? Is it just the way shadow has been casted on these rocks or is it a possible cave entrance? Your opinions are appreciated.



Have a great day.
StringTh

reply to post by StringTh


Wow nice work! It looks like it could be a cave to me, but without alternative angles it's hard to make absolute sure that it's not a shadow... if it is a cave, it's placed in an interesting spot, in the cliff face of a Mesa-type mountain...

Again very nice work, very well put together and easy to see your thinking.

reply to post by StringTh


very interesting, it does indeed look like a cave, and to add to the mystery; that is is located in what looks like a mountain very nice indeed

Considering the large(ish) number of caves and sinkholes the HiRise camera on the MRO has already found, this might be a entrance to something. Looking closely at the various enlargements, it might also be an overhang.

Either way, these pictures are amazingly detailed. Thanks for uploading these!

reply to post by StringTh

Hmm. In this photo, to me, they look like large rocks/shadows.



But in this pic I definitely see what you mean:



I'd love for it to be a magical cave full of happy aliens, but I think it's just an illusion. I can't see how a cave could naturally form there anyway?

It does look like a cave, but that then beggars the question, how was it formed? Caves here on earth are made in two ways generally, via water erosion or volcanic tubes, the hill there does not look volcanic

Nice find thanks for the upload

reply to post by IanPaul


Thank you very much. It looks like a cave to me too.

Thanks for your time
StringTh

PS: After posting I realized that we are not supposed to do one liners, so instead to thank each one of you that thanked me for my work, I like to take this opportunity and THANK ALL OF YOU.

Keep searching, I know I will.

reply to post by NuminousCosmos

Thank you for your post. I thought too about a overhang, but as you can see it is difficult to see it, but a possibility. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention.

StringTh

There is information in the shadow area. It doesn't prove or disprove its not a corridor to a cave opening or the end of the depression. Google Mars won't have that information either, it simply maps photo images over altimeter information as a virtual 3d representation, you don't actually see things from the point of view you lower your viewpoint to.

reply to post by Realm52


Thanks for your contribution. The light source is from right, so the shadows are cast to the left on my rotated screenshot. I tried to solve this finding using the shadow explanation but I failed. Feel free to point me to what you mean as I cannot see any huge rock above or on the sides of this entrance. I take that you downloaded the huge file as it is very much clear that it is not a shadow of a rock.

Thanks for your time
StringTh

reply to post by PrinceDreamer


Your are indeed right. If what we know about Mars is correct then we should not have caves up there. That's why it is interesting to me.

Thanks for reading
StringTh

reply to post by Illustronic


Also a correct point. I agree by tilting the view nothing more is being exposed and in some cases even worsened. That's why I went through the trouble to locate the HiRise image which is over 900MB and linked above. I suggest you download it as it is very detailed. Worth downloading.

Thanking you for your valid and right contribution.
StringTh

reply to post by StringTh


There are at least two threads about this area, but they are 4 years old.

As far as I could see, there are three different photos of that area, but, obviously, they all show a top-down view, so we cannot really see into that darker area to see if it goes on or if it's just a recess in the wall.

The photos are PSP_001902_1890, PSP_002047_1890 and PSP_010644_1890, and they even made an anaglyph, that you can see (if you have those red/blue glasses) here.

reply to post by ArMaP


Saw that briefly, I don't have the blue red glasses, I'm hesitant to say that would add anything to anything.

My point was where was information in the shadow areas, they are not data voids, I believe to the point one can see to the end of the depression. I don't use some tricky hidden software, just able to lighten the darks without effecting the lights. Looks pretty clear it is not a cave opening. I'm not quite sure what a cave opening would implicate either.

reply to post by Illustronic

What we see in the shadows may be really the floor of some kind of cavern, from this angle we cannot really know if it ends there or if it goes for some more meters or if it goes for miles and miles.

Im not sure if anyone else has noticed the objects to the left.They look suprsingly like heads to me,and lots of them.

reply to post by ArMaP


Why in my first post seeing in the shadows proves nothing, disproves nothing. I still don't understand what a cave opening would prove.

Originally posted by Illustronic
I still don't understand what a cave opening would prove.

I think it depends on the definition of "cave".

Nice,

i consider this one of the better "anomalies threads"..that opening looks like a door/entrance.

Along with that unusual shape, the surface of that plateau...and the fact that the entrance is right in the middle/front...makes this quite interesting....

Edit: You might want to look for more.....let's just SPECULATE it's really a "structure" of some kind or an artificial (!) cave...shouldn't there be more?

reply to post by ArMaP


Ancient lava tube openings? Yes, that would change things, not. Understand I am not dissing your comments, I enjoy your exchange.

A hole in a rock proves nothing to me except a hole in rock(s). I was an avid spelunker in my youth, as well as a cliff climber, I hesitate calling what I did mountain climbing, but I was acquainted with that community for a while. As far as the caving goes, we went to the ends, and saw some things. Nothing is solid, to a point, it eventually becomes solid.