A Fan with Inverted Channels

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Caption:

Map Projected Browse Image
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This image was acquired on May 30, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This image shows inverted channels within a fan whose origin could be either fluvial (produced by the action of a stream) or alluvial (created by sedimentary deposits).

If the fan is alluvial, then it formed on dry land. If the fan is fluvial, then it could have formed in water, like a delta. Similar fans with inverted channels are found in Eberswalde and Jezero craters, both of which are interpreted as deltas and are considered candidate locations of future rover landing sites.

The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 29.0 centimeters (11.4 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 87 centimeters (34.3 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.

This is a stereo pair with ESP_055360_1520 .

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.

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