As these lava flows cooled and solidified on unstable, shifting ground, they became compressed, resulting in ‘wrinkle ridges’. One of the most substantial ridges is seen to the bottom-right of centre as an unsteady diagonal line scored into the surface.

Following this extensive resurfacing by lava, Thaumasia Planum was covered in volcanic ash and dust, before the water flows cut through the lava to form the Protva Valles. The origin of these water flows remains unclear; they appear to emerge at different heights, implying that water may have seeped through subsurface layers of Mars.