This scene is the floor of a trough in Noctis Labryinthus, a region of chaotic terrain located between the Tharsis Rise and Valles Marineris.

Its eastern extent leads into the start of Valles Marineris, a canyon that is about as wide as the continental United States. The trough has a depression which contains dunes and exposed layers. It is possible that the wind is sculpting out the depression and revealing the layers or it could be continued cracking and pulling apart of the ground.

These layers might be the same as those seen in the canyons of Valles Marineris; their origin is currently unresolved.
Written by: Kelly Kolb

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

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.