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PIA04845: Gullies in Nirgal
 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:  603 x 904 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA04845.tif (545.9 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA04845.jpg (103.3 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:

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-535, 5 November 2003

This is a Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) narrow angle image of gullies carved into debris on the south-facing wall of Nirgal Vallis, an ancient martian valley. The gullies were conduits for sediment that has accumulated at a point where each channel met the valley floor. The aprons of debris are superposed upon the large ripple-like dunes, suggesting that the gullies are younger than these bedforms. Gullies such as these might have been formed by a liquid, such as water, seeping from the layered bedrock exposed in the valley wall, or perhaps by mass movement of the smooth-surfaced debris that covers much of the lower two-thirds of the valley wall. This picture is located near 28.6°S, 41.5°W. The image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2003-11-05