Layers in Becquerel Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Layers in Becquerel Crater
PSP_001546_2015  Science Theme: Sedimentary/Layering Processes
The layers shown in this image formed by loose sediment accumulating within Becquerel Crater.

The layers are interesting in that there are repeated cycles of thick and thin layers. These cyclic changes in layer thickness shows that some environmental conditions varied in a repeated way as each subsequent layer was deposited.

These variations may be due to annual climate cycles and/or a cyclic variability in the source of the sediment. Most layers are parallel to each other, indicating that deposition occurred by material settling onto the surface. A few layers are cross-bedded, meaning that they are not parallel to the older or younger layers.

Cross-bedding indicates that at the time that the layers were deposited, the sediment was transported along the ground surface by wind or water.

Written by: Chris Okubo  (10 October 2007)


This is a stereo pair with PSP_001955_2015.
 
Acquisition date
24 November 2006

Local Mars time
15:27

Latitude (centered)
21.445°

Longitude (East)
351.889°

Spacecraft altitude
283.9 km (176.4 miles)

Original image scale range
28.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~85 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

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Equirectangular

Emission angle
2.8°

Phase angle
52.0°

Solar incidence angle
49°, with the Sun about 41° above the horizon

Solar longitude
140.4°, Northern Summer

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North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  8.0°
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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.