HiRISE | Light-Toned Rocks Exposed along Coprates Chasma (ESP_027973

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Light-Toned Rocks Exposed along Coprates Chasma
ESP_027973_1650 Science Theme: Geologic Contacts/Stratigraphy

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Coprates Chasma exposes several kilometers of rock that tell scientists about processes that occurred in the ancient past and in the subsurface. In this HiRISE image, rocks that display several colors and brightness are visible along the chasma wall.

Some of the brighter rocks could be minerals that formed when basaltic rock was altered by water flowing deep underground a long time ago before the chasma opened up. Alternatively, the light-toned rocks may be sediments that were deposited when water filled up portions of the chasma.

Dark dunes that could still be active are at the bottom of the image, attesting to more recent activity in this location.

Written by: Cathy Weitz (narration: Tre Gibbs) (29 August 2012)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_025441_1650.

Acquisition date
15 July 2012

Local Mars time
15:35

Latitude (centered)
-14.740°

Longitude (East)
304.568°

Spacecraft altitude
264.6 km (164.4 miles)

Original image scale range
27.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~82 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
17.5°

Phase angle
47.9°

Solar incidence angle
61°, with the Sun about 29° above the horizon

Solar longitude
139.6°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 103°
Sub-solar azimuth: 36.3°

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Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
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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.