Layers upon layers on Mars
Click for original image.
Today’s cool image once again illustrates that the geology of Mars will almost certainly center on a study of layers, as increasingly the orbital and rover images are telling us that the red planet is covered with innumerable layers, one after another, each created by another cycle, some seasonal, some global, and some related to climate and the planet’s fluctuating rotation tilt as well as its orbit around the Sun. And some might also be random volcanic events, unrelated to the cycles.
The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on October 10, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled by the science team “Layering in western Arabia Terra”, this section only shows a small amount of the layering visible in the full image. From east to west the ground rises in a series of terraces, each representing a different layer of distinct geology.
The white dot on the overview map to the right, several hundred miles north of where the rover Opportunity landed, marks the location of these layers. Though the surface in this region is heavily cratered, there is no crater at this particular spot. The layering is instead apparently associated with the overall general geology, and likely represents different event, each one laying down a new layer. These events could be that of lava, or glacial activity, or even catastrophic water floods, all of which are theorized to have occurred on Mars.
If a geologist could walk up to the cliff faces here, I think it very likely that he or she would find that the large layers are further divided into many smaller layers. This has been the pattern of discovery so far on Mars. As our rovers begin traveling into more dramatic terrain with more vertical relief, the cliffs are over and over showing layers upon layers upon layers. This spot on Mars is likely to be no different.
UPDATE: I got curious to see a wider view of this region, and found this MRO context camera picture. The terraced area in the hi-res picture above is located on the eastern side of the terraced plateau, inside the large depression. Looks very volcanic, though there is no certainty in any conclusions.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for original image.
Today’s cool image once again illustrates that the geology of Mars will almost certainly center on a study of layers, as increasingly the orbital and rover images are telling us that the red planet is covered with innumerable layers, one after another, each created by another cycle, some seasonal, some global, and some related to climate and the planet’s fluctuating rotation tilt as well as its orbit around the Sun. And some might also be random volcanic events, unrelated to the cycles.
The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on October 10, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled by the science team “Layering in western Arabia Terra”, this section only shows a small amount of the layering visible in the full image. From east to west the ground rises in a series of terraces, each representing a different layer of distinct geology.
The white dot on the overview map to the right, several hundred miles north of where the rover Opportunity landed, marks the location of these layers. Though the surface in this region is heavily cratered, there is no crater at this particular spot. The layering is instead apparently associated with the overall general geology, and likely represents different event, each one laying down a new layer. These events could be that of lava, or glacial activity, or even catastrophic water floods, all of which are theorized to have occurred on Mars.
If a geologist could walk up to the cliff faces here, I think it very likely that he or she would find that the large layers are further divided into many smaller layers. This has been the pattern of discovery so far on Mars. As our rovers begin traveling into more dramatic terrain with more vertical relief, the cliffs are over and over showing layers upon layers upon layers. This spot on Mars is likely to be no different.
UPDATE: I got curious to see a wider view of this region, and found this MRO context camera picture. The terraced area in the hi-res picture above is located on the eastern side of the terraced plateau, inside the large depression. Looks very volcanic, though there is no certainty in any conclusions.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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