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This image shows dark sand dunes and inverted craters in the Arabia Terra region of Mars. The sand is dark because it was probably derived from basalt, a black volcanic rock that is common on Mars. Unlike traditional craters that are depressions, those here stick up above the surrounding plains. Such “inverted topography” is found on Mars and Earth where erosion has stripped away surrounding topography.
In this case, the craters were filled with sediment. Subsequent erosion stripped away the terrain around the filled craters, leaving the inverted topography visible here.
This is a non-narrated clip and uses the center enhanced color (infrared-red-blue) swath. It is less than 1 km (under 1 mi) across and is 272 km (169 mi) above the surface.
Image Date: Jan. 29, 2010
Latitude (centered): 3.120°
Longitude (East): 4.553°
This image was taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, to provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and to relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, and reached Mars on March 10, 2006.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE instrument, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
“For 17 years, MRO has been revealing Mars to us as no one had seen it before,” said the mission’s project scientist, Rich Zurek of JPL.
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