This image covers part of the Northwest rim of Hale Crater. Gullies have formed down the interior rim of the crater in this location.

While the origin of these gullies is not clear, some have attributes similar to their counterparts on the Earth that result from flowing water. These include upper regions where gully tributaries have eroded into the source rocks, sinuous or "snake-like" channel middle reaches, and down slope regions where gullies distribute and terminate in deposits of sediment and debris.

Bright material deposits are evident along the walls of some gullies. These deposits might be the result of transport or exposure of finer-grained sediments, variations in the brightness of dust or materials, or the presence of ice or fresh deposits within the gullies.

Hale is an elliptical-shaped crater, approximately 150 by 125 kilometers, and is centered at 35.7 degrees South, 323.4 degrees East on Mars, just north of Argyre Basin.

Written by: Shawn D. Hart and Ginny Gulick

All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible: Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. The image data were processed using the U.S. Geological Survey’s ISIS3 software.