The European Space Agency's Mars Express has imaged Amazonis Mensa, a flat-topped mountain that rises up to three kilometres above the surrounding plains, according to ESA. The image was taken by the spacecraft's High Resolution Stereo Camera on 14 June 2026 during orbit 28328, with a ground resolution of about 24 metres per pixel.

Amazonis Mensa sits in an ancient part of Mars sculpted over billions of years by lava, wind and incoming space rocks. ESA says the region shows signs that material once flowed there, likely ancient lava some three billion years ago, which resurfaced parts of the terrain and left it noticeably smooth. Some impact craters were partly filled by this material, including one that is almost completely buried, leaving only its rim visible. A 50-km-long valley lies next to one of these half-buried craters, and a narrower 20-km-long channel next to another.

Wind erosion is also evident, most notably in ridged patterns called yardangs encircling the mound. ESA describes two groups of these ridges, each aligned to the direction of the winds that formed them, winds influenced by Amazonis Mensa itself. The mound is one of three elongated features in the area, alongside Gordii Dorsum to the east and Eumenides Dorsum to the west.

The camera was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and the image was processed by the working group of Planetary Science and Remote Sensing at Freie Universität Berlin. The image is credited to ESA/DLR/FU Berlin.