Gullies in Mariner Crater - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Gullies developed on the rim of an unnamed 20 km crater located within the 150 km wide Mariner Crater. The gullies here likely originate from the accumulation of ice on the shadowed northern slope of the crater. One reason for this interpretation is the lobes of material that have accumulated at the base of some gullies; these resemble rock glaciers (mixtures of loose rock and sediment with ice filling the open space between particles).

 

This image was created using the CRISM imaging spectrometer. Each pixel of a CRISM image contains a 500 point spectrum, from which a color can be reconstructed. This reconstructed color was overlaid on a higher-resolution image taken with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Context Camera (CTX), which simultaneously took a photo while CRISM was collecting data.

 

This image was taken on January 23, 2007. It uses CRISM observation HRS00003FA5 and CTX observation P03_002317_1447_XI_35S164W

 

Image Credit: NASA / JPL / JHUAPL / MSSS / Justin Cowart

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