11 March 2004
West Candor Chasma, one of the troughs of the vast Valles Marineris system, presents some of the largest areas covered by outcrops of light-toned, layered rock on Mars. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example located in west Candor near 6.1°S, 76.7°W. Hundreds of layers are exposed in this area. The dark ripples are believed to be just that--dark patches of windblown sediment shaped into rippled forms. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left; the high resolution image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.