27 January 2004
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layers of sedimentary rock in a crater in western Arabia Terra. Layered rock records the history of a place, but an orbiter image alone cannot tell the entire story. These materials record some past episodes of deposition of fine-grained material in an impact crater that is much larger than the image shown here. The picture is located near 3.4°N, 358.7°W, and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi.) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left.