PIA04568: Tractus Catena Collapse Pits
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a chain of pits formed by collapse as faulting extended the upper crust in the Tractus Catena region of 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:  540 x 810 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA04568.tif (412.8 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA04568.jpg (43.4 kB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-386, 9 June 2003

This chain of pits formed by collapse as faulting extended the upper crust in the Tractus Catena region of Mars. The layered bedrock can be seen in the upper walls of each pit in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide near 28.5°N, 102.9°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2003-06-12