HiRISE | Scarps and Pits (ESP_078316

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Scarps and Pits
ESP_078316_2260 Science Theme: Glacial/Periglacial Processes

Some areas of Mars show a kind of selective erosion. In this image, an overlapping pit formed between one level of the surface and another. One idea is that the ground once contained significant amounts of ice in layers a few meters thick that have evaporated. Without the ice, the ground surface subsides and collapses down to a new and somewhat level surface.

Alternatively, the terrain may have been ice rich. The loss of this cement-like ice then left the surface unable to resist erosion from the wind, and allowed the surface to gradually deflate down to a new more resistant level. Either way, the current curved scarps, a few meters high between these layers may, suggest that the process is ongoing.

Written by: Mike Mellon (18 July 2023)

Acquisition date
11 April 2023

Local Mars time
14:55

Latitude (centered)
45.684°

Longitude (East)
87.212°

Spacecraft altitude
301.3 km (187.2 miles)

Original image scale range
60.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~181 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
2.5°

Phase angle
47.4°

Solar incidence angle
45°, with the Sun about 45° above the horizon

Solar longitude
49.6°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 97°
Sub-solar azimuth: 344.5°

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   (370MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (210MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (176MB)
non-map           (198MB)

IRB color
map projected (83MB)
non-map           (175MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (387MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (361MB)

RGB color
non map           (168MB)

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.