When it was forming, the lava flowed from the lower left, toward the center right, then curved to the left and flowed toward the top-center of the frame. Such leveed channels are commonly the conduit through which some of the later stages of molten rock are transported along a lava flow. These plates were once part of a hard, rock crust that floated on molten lava. As the lava flowed down Marte Vallis, huge chunks of this crust broke off at the margins of the flow and floated a few kilometers away from where they had originated. MOC image 38804 was taken on June 25, 1998.
North is approximately up, illumination is from the right.
Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission.