This image covers a flat plain in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. The portion shown here is roughly 400 meters, or 1/4 mile, across.

Bright, fractured bedrock is visible underlying dunes or ripples of wind-blown sand. The parallel, dark blue curves across the bedrock surface (underneath the dunes) are the edges of successive rock layers. These may appear dark blue because dark sand has become trapped at the edges of the layers. Successive layers in the bedrock are also exposed in the walls of degraded impact craters elsewhere in the image.

The layered rocks here are billions of years old, and infrared spectra from the CRISM instrument have inferred that they contain minerals such as clays and carbonate that likely formed when liquid water chemically altered these rocks. This evidence for past water activity, combined with the general flatness of this particular location, make it a good candidate landing site for future Mars rover missions.


Written by: James Wray

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.