Editing Pallas Deep-Core Survey (section)

== Notable features ==


[[File:pallas_deep-core_survey_body.png|thumb|300px|Reproduced field schematic from Dr. Solvei Mäkinen's 2098 survey report, showing the principal geological formations identified during the Pallas Deep-Core Survey.|alt=Cross-section schematic of Pallas subsurface strata showing the Ferrian Trench, Aldric Inclusion Zone, and Sub-Pallene Basin]]

=== Ferrian Trench ===

The [[Ferrian Trench]] was a surface-level exposure of nickel-iron material discovered during the survey's second month of surface operations, located approximately 18 km southwest of Pallas-Alpha. Measuring roughly 340 metres in length and averaging 9 metres in depth, the trench represented a natural exhumation of sub-surface material, likely the result of an oblique impact event that had stripped away the regolith overburden to expose the underlying stratum. Dr. Mäkinen considered it the first direct surface confirmation of the Pallene Anomaly's composition before deep drilling corroborated the finding.

=== Sub-Pallene Basin ===

The [[Sub-Pallene Basin]] was a broad topographic depression in the northern hemisphere, approximately 60 km in diameter and averaging 800 metres below the surrounding mean surface elevation. Geophysical surveys conducted from orbit and from surface traverses identified the basin as a likely collapse feature above an extensive void network in the upper silicate zone. No drilling was conducted within the basin itself, though secondary boreholes near its rim confirmed thin regolith cover over fractured substrate, making it a potentially unstable site for future infrastructure.

=== Aldric Inclusion Zone ===

The Aldric Inclusion Zone was the principal scientific discovery of the survey: a continuous body of high-grade nickel-iron ore beginning at approximately 3.1 km depth and confirmed to extend to at least 4.2 km, with the lower boundary not fully mapped before the mission concluded. Estimated to contain commercially significant quantities of ferronickel and trace platinum-group metals, the zone remained the subject of competing extraction proposals for decades. Its naming honoured an annotation in the original 2079 probe dataset, though the originating analyst was never identified.

=== Survey Station Pallas-Alpha ===

Survey Station Pallas-Alpha was the primary habitation and operations centre for the survey crew. Constructed from prefabricated modular pressure units anchored by Oduya's cable-tension system, it housed up to 120 personnel at peak occupancy and supported the main borehole rig, geological laboratory, and communications array. The station was fully demobilized and removed at mission conclusion in 2098 CE, leaving only survey marker posts and anchor point fixtures at the site.