Colorful Uplifted Rocks
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Colorful Uplifted Rocks
ESP_026388_2300  Science Theme: Glacial/Periglacial Processes
Large impact craters have central regions of uplifted bedrock, a rebound effect following the tremendous energy of a hypervelocity impact. This produces windows into the deep and more ancient geologic history.

Central peaks on Mars have some of the most diverse and distinctive rock types. In this enhanced-color subimage we see two distinctive bedrock colors--light blue and purple--plus reddish to black fine-grained materials covering some of the rock. These rocks are generally massive or jumbled, and do not show regular layers like lava flows or water-lain sediments. One possibility is that these are plutonic rocks, where molten rock solidified at depth rather than erupted onto the surface as lava flows or particles.

Analysis of the CRISM spectra here should provide further clues. This spot is in the vast northern plains, where some workers believe there was an ancient ocean. So far, the mineralogic signature of ocean-deposited sediments has not been reported.



Written by: Alfred McEwen  (2 May 2012)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_027720_2300.
 
Acquisition date
13 March 2012

Local Mars time
15:02

Latitude (centered)
49.458°

Longitude (East)
4.217°

Spacecraft altitude
305.0 km (189.6 miles)

Original image scale range
30.9 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~93 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
8.4°

Phase angle
34.7°

Solar incidence angle
43°, with the Sun about 47° above the horizon

Solar longitude
82.7°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  96°
Sub-solar azimuth:  346.5°
JPEG
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IRB color
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Merged IRB
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Merged RGB
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RGB color
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JP2
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JP2 EXTRAS
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map-projected  (334MB)
non-map           (262MB)

IRB color
map projected  (93MB)
non-map           (261MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (185MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (174MB)

RGB color
non map           (231MB)
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.