This image shows several colorful outcrops of rock in Schiaparelli, a large impact crater near Mars' equator. The colors indicate different rock layers and wind-blown materials, and a varied and complex geologic history. The area of the image is now being eroded, exposing several different types of material.

The RGB false-color image shows regions of several colors, corresponding to different textures. A prominent light-colored patch near the center of the image is one of the major rock types. This rock is eroding and has a scalloped appearance. Other rocks in this large light patch appear to have alternating light and dark layers.

Elsewhere in the image, the surface is blue and brown and has a ridged or rippled appearance, with several different scales of ripples. This material appears to sit on top of the light rocks near the center. These ridges have the appearance of ripples formed by wind-blown sand; strangely, however, some appear linked with ridges in the light outcrop at the center, so these could have been lithified (turned to rock). Observations like this one suggest that the relations between the units here are complex, since the units seem linked despite different colors and textures.
Written by: Colin Dundas

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.