Mounds of Layered Material on the West Edge of Melas Chasma
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Mounds of Layered Material on the West Edge of Melas Chasma
ESP_037494_1685  Science Theme: Sedimentary/Layering Processes
Melas Chasma is the widest segment of the Valles Marineris canyon, and is an area where MRO has detected the presence of sulfates.

This image offers a view of an excellent contact between layered deposits that postdate the formation of Valles Marineris and possible deposits that predate the canyon's formation. The materials are near interior layered deposits that contain sulfates and likely have hydrated minerals. At high resolution, we can have more accurate mapping of the stratigraphic relationships and contacts. Enhanced color can help to differentiate between geologic units and for mapping of sulfates.

This caption is based on the original science rationale.

Written by: HiRISE Science Team (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (15 October 2014)
 
Acquisition date
27 July 2014

Local Mars time
15:46

Latitude (centered)
-11.517°

Longitude (East)
285.047°

Spacecraft altitude
261.6 km (162.6 miles)

Original image scale range
26.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~79 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
0.1°

Phase angle
58.8°

Solar incidence angle
59°, with the Sun about 31° above the horizon

Solar longitude
168.0°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  18.7°
JPEG
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Merged IRB
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Merged RGB
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RGB color
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IRB color
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JP2 EXTRAS
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map-projected  (559MB)
non-map           (557MB)

IRB color
map projected  (198MB)
non-map           (520MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (238MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (242MB)

RGB color
non map           (500MB)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
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:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

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.