Layered Hills in Arabia Terra on Mars
Explanation:
Why are some hills on
Mars so layered?
The answer is still under investigation.
Clearly,
dark windblown sand
surrounds outcropping of light
sedimentary rock across the floor of crater
Arabia Terra.
The
light rock
clearly appears structured into many
layers, the lowest of which is likely very old.
Although the
dark sand forms dunes, rippled dunes of
lighter colored sand are easier to see surrounding the stepped
mesas.
Blown sand possibly
itself eroded once-larger mesas into the
layered hills.
Most of the
layered shelves
are wide enough to drive a
truck around.
The
above image, showing an area about 3 kilometers across,
was taken in 2003 October by the now defunct
Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft orbiting
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.
