this region (i.e., Terra Meridiani, Meridiani Planum) started to be used in the published literature in 2002/2003/2004. Each name reflects the coincidental (somewhat arbitrary) fact that the plain straddles the prime meridian for the system of longitude lines introduced for east/west Mars mapping.

The area covered by the detected surface hematite is around 150,000 km², i.e., larger than Lake Superior 82000 km2 in North America. Except for transport