PIA11442: Periodic Layering in Martian Sedimentary Rocks, Oblique View
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE
 Product Size:  1416 x 998 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA11442.tif (1.415 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA11442.jpg (246.9 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

This oblique view of periodic layering in Martian sedimentary layers was derived from three-dimensional modeling based on a stereo pair of images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The vertical dimension is exaggerated by a factor of two.

It shows the regularity in repetition of layers with approximately the same thickness. Individual layers in the area average about 10 meters (33 feet) in thickness.

The location of the imaged area is at 8 degrees north latitude, 353 degrees east longitude, inside an unnamed crater within the Arabia Terra region.

Some of the same layers visible in the right-side half of this view are the layers that can be seen in the center of a sample view from the original HiRISE image of this area (see PIA11441).

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2008-12-04