Aristarchus and Herodotus
This oblique photograph looks south across the Aristarchus plateau. There are two prominent impact craters in the photograph. On the left is Aristarchus, 40 kilometers in diameter, and on the right is Herodotus, 35 kilometers in diameter.
In the center of the photograph, between the two craters, is a feature known as Cobra's Head. Beginning at Cobra's Head, the sinuous valley that snakes its way to the right is Vallis Schroter. Vallis Schroter, which is typically 8-10 kilometers wide and more than 150 kilometers long, most likely formed due to faulting when the Aristarchus Plateau was uplifted nearly 4 billion years ago. Within Vallis Schroter is a narrow, sinuous structure called a rille, which formed as a volcanic channel.
