Collapse!
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Collapse!
ESP_017171_2190  Science Theme: Fluvial Processes
This observation (forming a stereo pair with ESP_017171_2190) shows part of an unnamed crater whose fill material has collapsed.

This crater may have been filled with ice, then covered by sediments or lava. Later the ice was lost by melting or sublimation and the topmost layer of indurated material collapsed, forming the broken and bent layer seen today.

The original image description reads “Pristine channels in fractured materials on crater floor.” That’s because when the target suggestion was entered (by me), I thought there were some narrow dark curving channels from a quick examination of MOC image R1601469. This could indicate geologically-recent flow of water, the stuff we’re supposed to follow.

However, the HiRISE images, especially viewed in stereo, show that these narrow dark features are actually the steep edges of escarpments created by the collapse. So beware of believing HiRISE image descriptions! Sometimes our initial impressions collapse.

Written by: Alfred McEwen  (5 May 2010)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_016538_2190.
 
Acquisition date
26 March 2010

Local Mars time
15:04

Latitude (centered)
38.795°

Longitude (East)
2.061°

Spacecraft altitude
298.4 km (185.5 miles)

Original image scale range
60.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~181 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
7.8°

Phase angle
34.1°

Solar incidence angle
42°, with the Sun about 48° above the horizon

Solar longitude
69.1°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  96°
Sub-solar azimuth:  357.8°
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   (495MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (250MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (262MB)
non-map           (229MB)

IRB color
map projected  (108MB)
non-map           (202MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (455MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (452MB)

RGB color
non map           (184MB)
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.