Banded Wall Outcrop in Ius Chasma
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Banded Wall Outcrop in Ius Chasma
ESP_024361_1735  Science Theme: Sedimentary/Layering Processes
This area was covered in a well known MOC image of October 1997 (AB1-01303) that shows what appears to be layered rock, deep below the Martian surface.

At the time, this was considered to be revolutionary and seemed to contradict the general view of the upper crust of Mars as being a lunar-like “megaregolith.” Later coverage of this outcrop area by MOC is not particularly good and the CTX (Context Camera) coverage doesn't improve on spatial resolution much.

However, experience with other HiRISE images suggests the “layering” will be less obvious at sub-meter-per-pixel scales, but nonetheless we'll see some interesting things. This was thought to be an important area for the development of some post-Viking views of Mars. This underscores how much technology has changed since the 1970s.

This caption is based on the original science rationale.

Written by: HiRISE Science Team  (1 December 2011)
 
Acquisition date
07 October 2011

Local Mars time
14:23

Latitude (centered)
-6.283°

Longitude (East)
269.765°

Spacecraft altitude
261.2 km (162.3 miles)

Original image scale range
26.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~79 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
5.2°

Phase angle
42.5°

Solar incidence angle
38°, with the Sun about 52° above the horizon

Solar longitude
11.8°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  96°
Sub-solar azimuth:  22.1°
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   (748MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (421MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (336MB)
non-map           (434MB)

IRB color
map projected  (130MB)
non-map           (371MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (181MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (187MB)

RGB color
non map           (356MB)
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.