24 August 2004
The upper left (northwest) corner of this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a crater within which are several layers of eroded material. This crater, and probably all of its degraded neighbors, was once filled and buried, and was later exhumed. The burial and exhumation theme is one that repeats all over the surface of Mars, as ancient rocks are eroded to expose previously filled and buried craters, valleys, and landscapes. This particular image is located near the northwest rim of Kaiser Crater, in Noachis Terra, near 45.2°S, 342.7°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left.