Very Fine Layers in Juventae Chasma
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Very Fine Layers in Juventae Chasma
PSP_002590_1765  Science Theme: Geologic Contacts/Stratigraphy
This image shows a portion of the light-toned layered deposits in Juventae Chasma.

Juventae Chasma is a large trough just north of the main part of Valles Marineris, and may have been the source region for giant floods long ago. There are currently several large hills of layered rock on the chasma floor, likely remnants of a deposit which was once more extensive. Among the possible origins of the layered deposits are lake sediments, volcanic material of various origins (possibly erupted under ice), or deposits of aeolian sand and dust.

The cutout shows some extremely thin beds within one of the mounds. These are probably sheets of material lying nearly flat and are some of the finest-scale layers observed on Mars. It is possible that in places layer boundaries are accentuated by variable amounts of dark wind-blown dust, which buries the layers in some parts of the image; nevertheless, some of the layering must be extremely thin.

The layers are actually even more thin than they appear, since the slope of the mound makes them appear wider. The occurrence of many thin layers indicates many events or variations in deposition while this material was forming.

Written by: Colin Dundas  (23 May 2007)

This is a stereo pair with PSP_002946_1765.
 
Acquisition date
14 February 2007

Local Mars time
15:43

Latitude (centered)
-3.294°

Longitude (East)
298.271°

Spacecraft altitude
267.4 km (166.2 miles)

Original image scale range
26.7 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~80 cm across are resolved

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25 cm/pixel and North is up

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Equirectangular

Emission angle
2.3°

Phase angle
53.6°

Solar incidence angle
56°, with the Sun about 34° above the horizon

Solar longitude
183.7°, Northern Autumn

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North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  5.7°
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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.