Active Erosion in Pasteur Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Active Erosion in Pasteur Crater
ESP_025372_2000  Science Theme: Sedimentary/Layering Processes
This image shows knobs and bluffs that are being actively eroded by the Martian wind. Fine, light-toned sedimentary layering is exposed in the bedrock at the base of the cliffs.

Also in this scene are two types of unconsolidated wind-blown sediments. The reddish ridges are relatively immobile, and are probably similar to granule ripples on Earth that are protected from the winds by a surface layer of coarse grains. The dark gray dunes are probably made up of fine (approximately 0.1 mm) basaltic sand. Previous HiRISE images (PSP_001756_1995, PSP_010643_1995) showed that the sand in Pasteur Crater is currently mobile.

This sand is thought to be locally derived, from dark deposits within a small crater called Euphrates that is located within Pasteur, upwind of the sand dunes. The movement of this sand contributes to the erosion of the ancient bedrock, sandblasting the formation into the knobs seen today and exposing layers that were deposited in ages past.

Written by: Paul Geissler  (1 February 2012)
 
Acquisition date
25 December 2011

Local Mars time
14:45

Latitude (centered)
19.333°

Longitude (East)
24.233°

Spacecraft altitude
284.2 km (176.6 miles)

Original image scale range
57.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~172 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
7.3°

Phase angle
46.1°

Solar incidence angle
39°, with the Sun about 51° above the horizon

Solar longitude
48.1°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  12.2°
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Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
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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:
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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.