- Original Caption Released with Image:
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Mawrth Vallis is one of the oldest valleys on Mars. It was formed in and
subsequently covered by layered rocks, from beneath which it is now being
exhumed. The rocks surrounding the valley have been observed by the Omega
spectrometer aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft,
which found them to include minerals with water bound within their
structure. Thus, the Mawrth Vallis region is of keen interest to the team
using the mineral-mapping Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for
Mars (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The CRISM team
requested this image by the orbiter's Context Camera in support of a CRISM
observation during orbiter's transition phase testing of instruments. The
image is centered near 25.6 degrees north, 19.4 degrees west. This area
was discussed during an Oct. 16, 2006, news briefing, and related imagery
from CRISM and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera can
be found at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/.
- Image Credit:
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NASA/JPL/MSSS
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