The Beauty of Layered Stratigraphy
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
The Beauty of Layered Stratigraphy
ESP_017833_1975  Science Theme: Impact Processes
The layered bedrock in this image was brought from several kilometers of depth during the formation of this 44 kilometer wide crater in the volcanic plains of Lunae Planum.

As these layers were exhumed and brought to nearly vertical orientations, faulting and fracturing occurred and breccia dikes formed. Breccias are rocks consisting of angular and sharp fragments, and a dike is a fracture that has been widened by forces pulling apart the rock while simultaneously filling it with rocky materials. Breccia dikes are a common feature in terrestrial craters and can now be recognized in brilliant preservation on Mars.

This high-resolution, false-color image cutout above allows us to see a cross-cutting breccia dike near the bottom of the image. (Blue represents basaltic material.)

Written by: Christy Caudill  (20 January 2017)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_017055_1975.
 
Acquisition date
17 May 2010

Local Mars time
15:19

Latitude (centered)
17.372°

Longitude (East)
291.214°

Spacecraft altitude
276.8 km (172.0 miles)

Original image scale range
28.7 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~86 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
15.0°

Phase angle
33.6°

Solar incidence angle
47°, with the Sun about 43° above the horizon

Solar longitude
91.7°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  96°
Sub-solar azimuth:  24.4°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (1216MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (508MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (628MB)
non-map           (576MB)

IRB color
map projected  (197MB)
non-map           (448MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (281MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (271MB)

RGB color
non map           (429MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

BONUS
4K (TIFF)
8K (TIFF)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
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:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

POSTSCRIPT
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. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.