PIA19071: How a Delta Forms Where River Meets Lake
 Target Name:  Mars
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
 Product Size:  1931 x 1078 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA19071.tif (6.247 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA19071.jpg (112.7 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:

This diagram depicts rivers feeding into a lake. Where the river enters the water body, the water's flow decelerates, sediments drop out, and a delta forms, depositing a prism of sediment that tapers out toward the lake's interior. Progressive build-out of the delta through time leads to formation of sediments that are inclined in the direction toward the lake body.

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover found sedimentary rocks with that characteristic inclined pattern during the rover's approach to Mount Sharp, suggesting that where the mountain stands now was formerly a lake.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.

More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Imperial College

Image Addition Date:
2014-12-08