APOD: 2007 February 20- White Ridges on Mars
Explanation:
What created these white ridges on Mars?
The
images
showing the white ridges, including some of the highest resolution images
ever taken from Martian orbit, were recorded last year by the
Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter (MRO).
A
current
leading hypothesis is that the white ridges formed as water flowed through
underground cracks and
bleached and hardened the edges of surrounding rocks.
Over millions of years, surface winds eroded the darker rock leaving the raised white
ridges.
Such water-created light-colored markings are well known here on
Earth.
The hypothesis is particularly interesting as underground water
could have helped to support
microbial life on the red world.
The above image resolves surface features as small as one meter across in
Candor Chasma region of huge
Valles Marineris on
Mars.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
