Chasm in Gale Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Chasm in Gale Crater's Interior Mound
PSP_006855_1750  Science Theme: Sedimentary/Layering Processes
Gale Crater is a large (152 kilometer diameter) crater in the cratered highlands of Mars near the highland/lowland divide. The crater contains a large central mound of layered, or stratified, material that is more than 2 kilometers thick in some places.

Visible in this image is a deep chasm cutting through these layers, which are spectacularly exposed in the chasm walls. On the floor of this chasm is a sinuous, positive-relief feature that may be an inverted channel deposit. Inverted channels occur when sediment in a stream hardens and becomes cemented in place due to water-deposited minerals. After the flow ceased, later erosion removed the surrounding softer rock, leaving the cemented channel deposit as a positive rather than a negative relief feature.

This chasm may actually be classified as a canyon, which is specifically a chasm or gorge that was carved by running water.



Written by: Brad Thomson  (19 March 2008)

This is a stereo pair with PSP_007501_1750.
 
Acquisition date
12 January 2008

Local Mars time
14:37

Latitude (centered)
-5.092°

Longitude (East)
137.232°

Spacecraft altitude
269.9 km (167.7 miles)

Original image scale range
27.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~82 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
7.2°

Phase angle
34.7°

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

Solar longitude
16.5°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  21.8°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (1068MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (539MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (490MB)
non-map           (615MB)

IRB color
map projected  (194MB)
non-map           (464MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (255MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (261MB)

RGB color
non map           (441MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM)
DTM details page

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.