PIA08801: Scrambled Hellas
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows an example of the extremely odd, seemingly scrambled layered rocks exposed by erosion near the deepest part of the deepest basin on Mars, Hellas.
 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:  672 x 1730 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1601  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08801.tif (1.164 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08801.jpg (320.3 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:

30 September 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example of the extremely odd, seemingly scrambled layered rocks exposed by erosion near the deepest part of the deepest basin on Mars, Hellas. This pattern of eroded, and perhaps deformed layers was once exposed to the martian surface, then buried, and more recently exposed again. The story behind these layers is not really understood; some members of the MOC team have -- for nearly 9 years now -- taken to calling these features, "taffy-pull terrain."

Location near: 43.1°S, 307.3°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Spring

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-09-30