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‘Home Plate’ Evidence for an Explosive Past
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Caption:
This view of layers around the edge of a low plateau called "Home Plate" inside Mars' Gusev Crater includes a feature that may be what geologists call a "bomb sag" and interpret as evidence of an explosive event, such as a volcanic eruption.
The layers seen here are generally straight and parallel except in the lower right, where they dip around a greyish rock that is about 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) in diameter. When layered deposits are struck by a falling rock while the layers are still soft, this type of pattern can be created. The rock might have been lofted by a volcanic burst or as part of the material ejected by the crater-forming impact of a meteorite.
The panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired the exposures for this image on Spirit's 754th Martian day (Feb. 15, 2006). This view is an approximately true-color rendering mathematically generated from separate images taken through all of the left Pancam's 432-nanometer to 753-nanometer filters.
Cataloging Keywords:
| Name | Value | Additional Values |
|---|---|---|
| Target | Mars | |
| System | ||
| Target Type | Planet | |
| Mission | Mars Exploration Rover (MER) | |
| Instrument Host | Spirit (MER-A) | |
| Host Type | Rover | |
| Instrument | Panoramic Camera (Pancam) | |
| Detector | ||
| Extra Keywords | Color, Crater, Impact, Volcano | |
| Acquisition Date | ||
| Release Date | 2006-04-11 | |
| Date in Caption | 2006-02-15 | |
| Image Credit | NASA/JPL/Cornell | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08063 | |
| Identifier | PIA08063 | |
