The solid state imaging camera on NASA's Galileo spacecraft imaged this region as it passed Ganymede during its second orbit through the Jovian system. The tectonism that created the structures in the bright terrain nearby has strongly affected the local dark terrain to form unusual structures such as the one shown here. The lens-like appearance of this feature is probably due to shearing of the surface, where areas have slid past each other and also rotated slightly. Note that in several places in these images, especially around the border of the lens-shaped feature, bright ridges appear to turn into dark grooves. Analysis of the geologic structures in areas like this are helping scientists to understand the complex tectonic history of Ganymede.
North is to the top-left of the image, and the sun illuminates the surface from the southeast.
The solid state imaging camera on NASA's Galileo spacecraft imaged this region as it passed Ganymede during its second orbit through the Jovian system. Like some other craters on Ganymede, it possesses an unusually dark floor and a bright ejecta blanket. The dark component may be residual material from the impactor that formed the crater. Another possibility is that the impactor may have punched through the bright surface to reveal a dark layer beneath. Another large crater named El is partly visible in the top- right corner of the image.