Some HiRISE images show strange-looking formations. Sometimes it helps to look at Context Camera images to understand the circumstances of a scene—like this cutout from CTX 033783_1509—which here shows an impact crater with a central peak, and a collapse depression with concentric troughs just north of that peak. Our HiRISE picture is a close-up of one of those troughs, along with channels draining into the depression.

On the floor of the trough is some grooved material that we typically see in middle latitude regions where there has been glacial flow. These depressions with concentric troughs exist elsewhere on Mars, and their origins remain a matter of debate.

NB: The Context Camera is another instrument onboard MRO, and it has a larger viewing angle than HiRISE, but less resolution capability than our camera.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (2 April 2018)