Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Dipping Rock Layers
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-735, 23 May 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The central peak of Oudemans Crater, located at the edge of the Labyrinthus Noctis trough system, consists of steeply-dipping rock layers that were uplifted and tilted by the meteor impact that formed the crater. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example. The banded features are layers of light-toned, possibly sedimentary, rock that were brought to the surface and uplifted by the impact process that formed the crater and its central peak. Oudemans Crater's central peak serves as a means for probing the nature of rock that lies beneath the plains cut by the Labyrinthus Noctis troughs, which are part of the vast Valles Marineris system. This March 2004 picture is located near 10.2°S, 92.0°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.
Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, California. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, California and Denver, Colorado.
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