PIA18933: Clays along the Coprates Chasma Plateau


Clays along the Coprates Chasma Plateau

Caption:

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Map Projected Browse Image
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This image shows exposures of deposits along the plateau just to the south of Coprates Chasma.

Whereas Coprates Chasma and many of the other chasmata of Valles Marineris contain kilometer-thick light-toned mounds made up of sulfates, several of the deposits along the plateau have signatures of clays. This indicates that water was here for extensive periods of time to cause the plains to weather and alter into clays.

Background Info:

HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. 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 the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, 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) Mariner
Instrument Host Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Host Type Orbiter Flyby Spacecraft
Instrument High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Map, Water
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2014-12-03
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18933
Identifier PIA18933