Central Deposits in Pasteur Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Central Deposits in Pasteur Crater
PSP_001756_1995  Science Theme: Sedimentary/Layering Processes
This observation shows a portion of the central sedimentary deposits in Pasteur Crater.

The deposits in this image are eroding into knobs and ridges. The erosion is probably dominated by wind, as most of the ridges are parallel. This is common in wind-eroded features, with the ridges generally aligned with the prevailing wind.

At high resolution, layering is revealed in many of the knobs and outcrops. The horizontal layers indicate that the material was deposited uniformly over a broad area. Possible origins include volcanic airfall or lacustrine (lake) deposits. After deposition, the rock in this area has been fractured and faulted, forming a diverse array of cracks.

The mottled appearance of much of the image is caused by dark, featureless patches which may be wind-blown dust. These have interacted with lighter-toned ridges and ripples which are probably also formed by aeolian (wind) processes. In places, the dark patches partially cover the ripples, indicating that they have moved more recently, but they must be thin because the ripples frequently stand above surrounding dark material.

The ripples exhibit multiple interacting orientations in some places, producing networks of small ridges which reflect movement in winds from several directions.



Written by: Colin Dundas  (7 February 2007)
 
Acquisition date
11 December 2006

Local Mars time
15:33

Latitude (centered)
19.183°

Longitude (East)
24.407°

Spacecraft altitude
282.2 km (175.4 miles)

Original image scale range
56.8 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~170 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
5.7°

Phase angle
45.9°

Solar incidence angle
51°, with the Sun about 39° above the horizon

Solar longitude
148.6°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  7.3°
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   (403MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (202MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (197MB)
non-map           (176MB)

IRB color
map projected  (57MB)
non-map           (153MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (325MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (339MB)

RGB color
non map           (152MB)
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.