Candor Chasma in central Valles Marineris is a huge, deep basin that was once filled with sediments carried by water and/or the atmosphere. Erosion has exposed the intricate structures in the layering.

Dark sand trapped in the crevices helps to accentuate the layering. The light bedrock is rich in hydrated sulfates, and represents a vast reservoir of water (trapped in the sulfate minerals) that is stable in the topics of Mars where any water ice has long ago sublimated into the air.

ID: ESP_072599_1735
date: 21 January 2022
altitude: 265 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_072599_1735
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
#Mars #science #NASA