HiRISE | Layered Sediments in Valles Marineris (ESP_072546

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Layered Sediments in Valles Marineris
ESP_072546_1725 Science Theme: Landscape Evolution

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Sediments rich in hydrated sulfates may have filled central Valles Marineris, but debates persist as to how these deposits grew or formed.

If they formed from deposition in a deep lake then the layers should be nearly horizontal. If the layers formed from airfall deposits such as volcanic pyroclastics or windblown dust, then the layers should drape over the pre-existing topography.

Another possibility is that the layers were deformed by slumping. Stereo topographic data can be used to test these hypotheses. The cutout shows an area at full resolution. There are no detectable color variations within these layers, suggesting a uniform composition or the presence of a thin cover of dust over all surfaces.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (19 April 2022)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_072836_1725.

Acquisition date
17 January 2022

Local Mars time
15:47

Latitude (centered)
-7.530°

Longitude (East)
292.759°

Spacecraft altitude
261.7 km (162.6 miles)

Original image scale range
52.4 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~157 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
3.0°

Phase angle
56.3°

Solar incidence angle
59°, with the Sun about 31° above the horizon

Solar longitude
159.0°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 97°
Sub-solar azimuth: 21.3°

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JP2 EXTRAS
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map-projected (86MB)
non-map           (141MB)

IRB color
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non-map           (109MB)

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map projected (178MB)

Merged RGB
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ANAGLYPHS
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Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

BONUS
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
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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.