PIA03643: Inverted Valley
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a somewhat sinuous, nearly flat-topped ridge, located in eastern Arabia Terra on Mars.
 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:  1024 x 3248 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1312  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA03643.tif (3.329 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA03643.jpg (535 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:

15 December 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a somewhat sinuous, nearly flat-topped ridge, located in eastern Arabia Terra. The ridgetop was once the floor of a valley, perhaps carved by running water. The valley floor, or material that covered the floor, was more resistant to erosion than the surrounding rock into which the valley was cut. Thus, over time, the valley disappeared and its floor was left standing high as a ridge. Inverted valleys are common on Mars; they also occur on Earth.

Location near: 10.8°N, 313.2°W
Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Winter

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2005-12-15