[2] The dark color of Syrtis Major Planum comes from the basaltic volcanic rock of the region and the relative lack of dust.

The selected landing site for the Mars 2020 mission that includes the rover Perseverance and the helicopter drone Ingenuity was Jezero crater, at 18°51′18″N 77°31′08″E / 18.855°N 77.519°E / 18.855; 77.519[3] within the region.

The floors of the calderas are unique among large Martian volcanoes as they are not elevated relative to the terrain surrounding Syrtis Major.

[1][2] Satellite gravity field measurements show a positive gravity anomaly centered on the caldera complex, suggesting the presence of a 600 km × 300 km north–south elongated extinct magma chamber below, containing dense minerals (probably mainly pyroxene, with olivine also possible) that precipitated out of magma before eruptions.

[5] Crater counts date Syrtis Major to the early Hesperian epoch; it postdates formation of the adjacent Isidis impact basin.

In 1876, Camille Flammarion called it the Mer du Sablier (French for "Hourglass Sea") when he revised Proctor's nomenclature.

The name "Syrtis Major" was chosen by Giovanni Schiaparelli when he created a map based on observations made during Mars' close approach to Earth in 1877.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Mariner and Viking planetary probes led scientists to conclude that the variations were caused by wind blowing dust and sand across the area.

[2] In the Northeast quadrant of Nili Patera is a 630 m tall volcanic cone named Nili Tholus,[10] on and around this cone is a light-tone lava flow of chemically evolved lava[11] with multiple occurrences of relict silica sinter deposits created by a formerly active hot spring system.