Basal Exposure of South Polar Layered Deposits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Basal Exposure of South Polar Layered Deposits
PSP_005682_1035  Science Theme: Polar Geology
This image shows internal layering in the south polar layered deposits exposed on a scarp. The south polar layered deposits are composed primarily of water ice with a small amount of dust. Variations in dust content most likely control the erosion of the layers.

Some layers have an irregular wavy appearance that may have been caused by flow of the ice in the past when the now-exposed ice was still buried. It is currently too cold at the surface in the south polar region of Mars for significant flow to be occurring today. Other layers appear to be converging and some are truncated and may represent unconformities (see subimage). Unconformities form when a previous episode of erosion removes all or part of a layer and is later followed by more deposition.

The layers were laid down over a large area near the south pole, probably over the past few million years. They are believed to record recent global climate changes and oscillations on Mars in much the same way that polar ice in Greenland and Antarctica provide information about varying climatic conditions on Earth.

Written by: Maria Banks  (7 November 2007)

This is a stereo pair with PSP_005458_1035.
 
Acquisition date
13 October 2007

Local Mars time
14:37

Latitude (centered)
-76.176°

Longitude (East)
134.487°

Spacecraft altitude
246.9 km (153.5 miles)

Original image scale range
25.6 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~77 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel

Map projection
Polarstereographic

Emission angle
16.0°

Phase angle
76.9°

Solar incidence angle
67°, with the Sun about 23° above the horizon

Solar longitude
329.9°, Northern Winter

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  55.6°
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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:
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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.