【boy actors, female roles, and elizabethan eroticism】

A European spacecraft orbiting Marshas acquired some of the most detailed images yet of a region at the Red Planet's south pole known as "Inca City."

How this mysterious place earned its nickname is boy actors, female roles, and elizabethan eroticismpretty obvious: From space, the natural grid-like pattern of pin-straight ridges, right angles, and polygons looks like the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. Though NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft discovered this area— more formally referred to as Angustus Labyrinthus — 50 years ago, planetary scientists are still unsure what natural phenomenon drove its formation. 

"It could be that sand dunes have turned to stone over time," according to the European Space Agency, which runs the Mars Expressorbiter. "Perhaps material such as magma or sand is seeping through fractured sheets of Martian rock."

Or, in another possible theory, the ridges could be winding structures related to glaciers, the agency said. The German Aerospace Centre, whose High Resolution Stereo Camera shot the photos, believes the most compelling explanationis that the narrow ridges are solidified lava.

SEE ALSO: NASA asks: Can anyone help us get our Mars samples back?

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The features that resemble walls appear to trace part of a 53-mile-wide circle. Scientists think perhaps the "city" sits in a large crater from an ancient asteroid collision. The impact may have caused faults to spread through the surrounding plain, filled with magma bubbling up. 

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

"Later, the softer material surrounding the polar plains was eroded, leaving behind ridges of the harder components of magmatic rock," the German Aerospace Centresaid. 

Mars Express has taught scientists a lot about the Red Planet over the past 20 years. The spacecraft has been observing the Martian surface, mapping its minerals, revealing its composition and other aspects of its environment.

An area at Mars' south pole region has been compared to these ruins at Machu Picchu in Peru. Credit: joSon / Getty Images

The new photos also found hints of spidery formations scattered over the polar region — features that are better understood by researchers than Inca City. Dark splotches seen in the image below are buried "spiders," or so-called araneiform terrain.

---

Related Stories

---

• An enormous Martian cloud returns every spring. Scientists found out why.
• What Mars would look like from an orbiting space station
• How Mars rovers could explore vast uncharted caves
• NASA rover finds clear evidence of ancient waves, yes waves, on Mars
• Mars isn't as red as you might have thought

The spiders tend to emerge when spring sunlight shines on layers of carbon dioxide deposited over the dark winter. The sun causes the dry ice trapped below the ice cap to turn into gas, which eventually breaks through the ice. 

The grid-like ridges of the Angustus Labyrinthus region on Mars along with dark-splotched "spiders." Credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

If those don't look like spiders to you, take a look at the image below, taken by another European spacecraft known as the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. These ice spiders are lying just outside the region captured in the new Mars Express images. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiterhas also repeatedly photographed the spiders.

Another European spacecraft known as the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has taken detailed pictures of the ice spiders as well. Credit: ESA / TGO / CaSSIS

"The emerging gas, laden with dark dust, shoots up through cracks in the ice in the form of tall fountains or geysers, before falling back down and settling on the surface," according to ESA.

The geysers make blotches about 50 yards to a half-mile wide. These patterns — when seen beneath the ice, as photographed recently by Mars Express — are a sign that "spiders'' will eventually pop out. Scientists think this process, which doesn't happen on Earth, is a key mechanism for carbon dioxide exchange between the polar ice cap and the Martian atmosphere.

---

Featured Video For You

---

NASA video shows stunning scene from extremely volcanic world Io

---

• Games
• Science
• Life
• Social Good
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Tech
• Deals

• Is 'Sing Sing' streaming? How to watch the A24 drama at home.
• I am the empress of fall and if you drink hot coffee before the equinox you are dead to me
• Alamo Drafthouse's clown
• MashTalk: What everyone secretly fears about the iPhone 8
• Herediano vs. Real Salt Lake 2025 livestream: Watch Concacaf Champions Cup for free
• Hurricane Irma is making oceans vanish before the flooding
• Apple iOS 11 leak hints at Apple Watch LTE and new colors
• Twitter is *not having* Equifax's response to that massive hack
• How an Australian VR gaming studio scored a gig with Boeing to train astronauts
• Apple iPhone 8 event: How to watch and what to expect

• 'The Simpsons' original 'Who Shot Mr. Burns?' pitch was VERY different
• Sarah Michelle Gellar shares rare pics from 'Buffy'
• A list of filmmakers who've committed to inclusion riders
• Spotify is now crowdsourcing music data
• RIP Claire's, the purest store in any mall
• The Nintendo Switch is the best console for gaming in comfort
• Khloé Kardashian looks A LOT like Elvis Presley
• Beyoncé is going back on tour with Jay
• The island where Amelia Earhart probably died has a 3.8 star rating on Google
• With Mike Pompeo, Trump will have a hardcore climate denier at State

• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for May 19: Tips to solve Connections #238
• Equifax should be the breach that broke the camel’s back
• George Clooney's 'Suburbicon': Movie review
• Chrissy Teigen live
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 17: Tips to solve Connections #206
• You won't be able to get your weed by drone in California
• Hollywood casting director says Asians are not expressive and people are not having it
• Hollywood casting director says Asians are not expressive and people are not having it
• Better Buy: Previous
• Everything you need to know about the massive Equifax data breach

• Best gaming laptop deal: Save $400 on the HP Victus 15 with Ryzen 5 and Radeon RX 6550M
• MashTalk: What everyone secretly fears about the iPhone 8
• Uber wants all its cars in London to be electric by 2025 ... and you're going to pay for it
• 'It' is a hit! The Stephen King horror flick shattered box office records
• Trump tariff news: See the latest impacts on consumer tech
• Google's news
• Facial recognition could soon be used to identify masked protesters
• Drivers face a traffic nightmare as they flee before Hurricane Irma
• Puerto Rico hurricane crisis: Here's why this could be Trump's Katrina
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is absolutely stunning, and pretty damn cheap