Aging with Impacts
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Aging with Impacts
ESP_049398_2180  Science Theme: Glacial/Periglacial Processes
Mamers Valles is a long (approximately 1000 kilometers) sinuous canyon beginning in Arabia Terra and ending in the Northern lowlands of Deuteronilus Mensae. This image features the southern facing slope of the canyon wall.

The northern half (top) has a rough, pitted texture with numerous impact craters, while the middle section shows the steep canyon wall. Streaks of slightly different colors show slope material eroding onto the canyon floor. Though the canyon itself was formed long ago, the material deposited on the canyon floor has been laid down over time, creating a much younger surface.

The difference in age of the surfaces can also be indicated by the presence or absence of impact craters. The longer a surface has been exposed, the more impact craters it will accumulate. Counting craters to determine age estimates of planetary surfaces has been used throughout the solar system. This method is based on the assumption that the youngest, freshly formed surfaces will have no impact craters, and as time progresses crater impacts will accumulate at a predictable rate. This concept has been calibrated using crater counts on the Moon and the measured age of the rocks brought back by the Apollo missions.

Written by: Singleton Thibodeaux-Yost (audio: Tre Gibbs)  (1 May 2017)
 
Acquisition date
08 February 2017

Local Mars time
13:55

Latitude (centered)
37.779°

Longitude (East)
16.391°

Spacecraft altitude
295.9 km (183.9 miles)

Original image scale range
59.2 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~178 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
0.3°

Phase angle
62.2°

Solar incidence angle
62°, with the Sun about 28° above the horizon

Solar longitude
313.9°, Northern Winter

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  307.7°
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   (141MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (79MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (63MB)
non-map           (67MB)

IRB color
map projected  (21MB)
non-map           (66MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (138MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (127MB)

RGB color
non map           (62MB)
BONUS
4K (TIFF)
8K (TIFF)

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.