Ganges Mensa (natural color) - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Western Ganges Mensa, a 100 x 50 km wide plateau of layered sulfate-bearing deposits within the Ganges Chasma system. At its thickest, the Ganges Mensa deposits are nearly 4,000 m thick, almost the same elevation as the canyon rim. Deposits like this are common in the eastern regions of the Valles Marineris system. The source of these deposits is unclear. They may have been deposited in large lakes impounded within a closed canyons prior to the opening of the east end of Valles Marineris by catastrophic outflow floods. Alternatively, they may have been deposited by wind, or as ashfall deposits that were later altered by acidic groundwater.

 

This image combines a 40 m/px natural color CRISM hyperspectral image (600 nm, 530 nm, and 440 nm as RGB channels, respectively) with a 5 m/px monochrome CTX image. The CRISM image was collected on June 12, 2007, and the CTX image was collected on May 4, 2009.

 

Image Credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS / JHU / APL / Justin Cowart

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