PIA02168: South Polar Terraces
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows layering in terrain at the high southern latitudes of Mars. South polar layers are commonly assumed to consist of varying amounts of dust and ice.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  672 x 1728 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1368  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA02168.tif (1.163 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA02168.jpg (154.2 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

9 February 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layering in terrain at the high southern latitudes of Mars. South polar layers are commonly assumed to consist of varying amounts of dust and ice. An alternative explanation -- they may be exposures of ancient sedimentary rock.

Location near: 78.9°S, 10.1°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Summer

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-02-09