PIA22331: Layers along a Pit in Coprates Catena


Layers along a Pit in Coprates Catena

Caption:

Click here for larger version of PIA22331
Map Projected Browse Image
Click on the image for larger version

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows the western wall of a small pit that is located along the floor of a larger trough in Coprates Catena. Dark layers are exposed along the bottom of the pit wall while light-toned layers are near the top of the pit and the adjacent trough floor.

Based upon where the layers are exposed, we can tell that the dark layers formed first followed by the light layers. The light layers could have been deposited when water filled part of the trough while the dark layers could be older lava flows.

The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 26.1 centimeters (10.3 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 78 centimeters (30.7 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.

This is a stereo pair with PSP_009631_1650 .

Background Info:

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

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Instrument Host Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Map, Water
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2018-03-06
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22331
Identifier PIA22331