Craters on an Ice-Rich Debris Apron
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Craters on an Ice-Rich Debris Apron
PSP_007832_1385  Science Theme: Glacial/Periglacial Processes
This observation shows a swath of a debris apron east of Hellas Basin. Features like this are often found surrounding isolated mountains in this area. Material flowed down off of the top of the mountain and settled in an area around its base. The bottom of the image (to the south) shows the base of the mountain, where material is sliding off and piling up into ridges. The top of the image (to the north) shows the lobate edge of the apron, where it stopped flowing.

Recently, the SHARAD (Shallow ground-penetrating radar) instrument (also on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with HiRISE) measured large amounts of water ice mixed into this and other debris aprons. The water ice is what gives the apron its unique texture, which is especially clear at HiRISE's high resolution. Parallel ridges and grooves indicate material has moved slowly while remaining solid - a process called "creep." Pits and buttes may have formed when the dust- and debris-covered ice cracked and sublimated (went directly from a solid to a gas phase).

We can also use this HiRISE image to study the small impact craters found in these areas. Debris aprons like this one have fewer craters than their surroundings. Because impacts generally occur indiscriminately over all of Mars, this means that either the debris apron is younger than its surroundings, or some process is erasing craters on the apron - a process which is not occurring as rapidly on the surrounding plains.

The fact that this apron is rich in water ice is a clue to what is happening. Another clue is the craters on the apron themselves: they have a different appearance than most craters. Some of these degraded craters are "inverted" (higher in the middle than at the edges, which is the opposite of normal craters).

Craters like this have been modified, so we can tell the surface has been active at some time since the impact that formed the crater. For this reason we can't estimate the age of the flow by counting craters, like we are be able to do on some surfaces. However, we can use these craters to study the processes that are actively modifying the apron material.



Written by: Ingrid Daubar  (9 June 2008)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_060736_1385.
 
Acquisition date
28 March 2008

Local Mars time
15:10

Latitude (centered)
-41.320°

Longitude (East)
103.976°

Spacecraft altitude
254.4 km (158.1 miles)

Original image scale range
51.0 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~153 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
2.1°

Phase angle
76.5°

Solar incidence angle
75°, with the Sun about 15° above the horizon

Solar longitude
51.2°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  50.0°
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   (417MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (197MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (214MB)
non-map           (257MB)

IRB color
map projected  (80MB)
non-map           (189MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (370MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (358MB)

RGB color
non map           (185MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

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.