HiRISE | Light Outcrop on Crater Floor (PSP_001860

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Light Outcrop on Crater Floor
PSP_001860_1685 Science Theme: Geologic Contacts/Stratigraphy

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This observation shows part of the floor of a large impact crater in the southern highlands, north of the giant Hellas impact basin. Most of the crater floor is dark, with abundant small ripples of wind-blown material. However, a pit in the floor of the crater has exposed light-toned, fractured rock.

The light-toned material appears fractured at several different scales. These fractures are called joints, and result from stresses on the rock after its formation.

Joints are similar to faults, but have undergone virtually no displacement. With careful analysis, joints can provide insight into the forces that have affected a unit of rock, and thus into its geologic history. The fractures appear dark; this may be due to trapping of dark, wind-blown sand in the crack, to precipitation of different minerals along the fracture, or both.

Written by: Colin Dundas (7 July 2010)

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Acquisition date:	19 December 2006	Local Mars time:	3:40 PM
Latitude (centered):	-11.279 degrees	Longitude (East):	69.427 degrees
Range to target site:	261.2 km (163.3 miles)	Original image scale range:	from 26.1 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 52.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning)
Map projected scale:	25 cm/pixel and North is up	Map projection:	EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission angle:	5.4 degrees	Phase angle:	54.4 degrees
Solar incidence angle:	59 degrees, with the Sun about 31 degrees above the horizon	Solar longitude:	152.8 degrees, Northern Summer
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North azimuth:	97 degrees	Sub-solar azimuth:	26.5 degrees
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North azimuth:	270 degrees	Sub solar azimuth:	200.4 degrees

NEARBY OBSERVATIONS

Sample
Possible Phyllosilicate-Rich Terrain
IR-Distinct Crater
Layered Bedrock Exposure in Impact Crater
Central Structure of an Impact Crater in North Terra Sabaea
Sample

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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: Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Postscript
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. 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. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. The image data were processed using the U.S. Geological Survey’s ISIS3 software.