PIA14461: Faults in Claritas Fossae
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of the Claritas Fossae region, characterized by systems of 'graben.' A graben forms when a block of the planet's crust drops down between two faults, due to extension, or pulling, of the crust.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE 
 Product Size:  2560 x 1920 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL 
 Other  
Information: 		 Other products from image ESP_022476_1535 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA14461.tif (14.76 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA14461.jpg (655.1 kB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

The Claritas Fossae region is characterised by systems of "graben" running mainly north-west to south-east. A graben forms when a block of the planet's crust drops down between two faults, due to extension, or pulling, of the crust.

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, 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.

Originally released July 13, 2011

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

Image Addition Date:
2011-07-15