Gullies and Bedrock in Nirgal Vallis

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Caption:

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The gullies in this image are within the valley wall of an ancient channel-Nirgal Vallis-a testament to flowing water in Mars' ancient past. However, the formation of gullies are still the subject of much debate with respect to their formation: "wet" vs. "dry" or even "dry" with the aid of some lubricating fluid.

Gullies most commonly form in the steep walls of simple craters . Gullies are common even in cold arctic deserts on Earth (e.g., the Haughton impact structure on Devon Island). This suggests that these provocative features can form on a mostly dry Mars that is only sporadically wet.

Regardless, these features bear a remarkable resemblance to flowers, including the blossom, petals, stem, and roots. Can you see it too?

Background Info:

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

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