PIA20729: An Inverted Crater
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE
 Product Size:  2880 x 1800 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL
 Other  
Information: 
Other products from ESP_043651_1590
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA20729.tif (15.56 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA20729.jpg (956.6 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:

Click here for larger version of PIA20729
Map Projected Browse Image
Click on the image for larger version

There is a circular feature in this observation that appears to stand above the surrounding terrain. This feature is probably an inverted crater: a once-normal appearing impact crater that was filled in with sediment. The fill became indurated, or hardened, until it was more resistant to subsequent erosion than the surrounding material.

Other craters in this image are not inverted or substantially infilled. This suggests that they were formed after the events that filled in and later exposed the inverted crater.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2016-06-01