Layers on the Floor of a Trough in Noctis Labyrinthus
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Layers on the Floor of a Trough in Noctis Labyrinthus
PSP_006679_1680  Science Theme: Sedimentary/Layering Processes
Layering is visible along the floor of a trough in Noctis Labyrinthus. The troughs in this area appear to be collapse pits and faults that extend across western Valles Marineris, the largest canyon system in the solar system. Upwelling of the Tharsis Plateau causing extension in this region, and along with water drainage may explain the trough formation.

Layering is commonly visible along the upper walls of these troughs but in some cases we can see layering along the floors. This layering could either represent rocks deposited before the trough formed that only became exposed by the removal of overlying material, or the layered material was deposited inside the trough after it already existed. Volcanism and wind-blown activity could have deposited the layers, although water activity cannot be ruled out, especially if the layers formed before the trough exposed them.

Thicker layered deposits also exist within the larger troughs of Valles Marineris and their origins are also being explored and debated.

Written by: Cathy Weitz  (13 February 2008)

 
Acquisition date
29 December 2007

Local Mars time
14:30

Latitude (centered)
-11.770°

Longitude (East)
262.647°

Spacecraft altitude
253.0 km (157.2 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 and North is up

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Equirectangular

Emission angle
4.7°

Phase angle
44.9°

Solar incidence angle
41°, with the Sun about 49° above the horizon

Solar longitude
9.9°, Northern Spring

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North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  26.4°
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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.