Planet Mars: Fluvial Fan on a Crater Floor | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Planet Mars: Fluvial Fan on a Crater Floor | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

This observation by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a terrific fan-shaped deposit, beginning where the channel enters a crater. This is suggestive of a delta—a deposit that forms when water in a channel flows into a larger area (such as an ocean or a lake). As the water spreads out, it moves slower and drops the sediment that it is carrying, forming the delta. (e.g., a famous Earth example is the Nile River delta.)

HiRISE, or the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, is a powerful camera that takes pictures covering vast areas of Martian terrain while being able to see features as small as a kitchen table.

The resolution of HiRISE helps scientists determine the topography of the region that is needed for establishing the stratigraphic relations and flow direction of the area.

Image cutout is less than 5 km (3 mi) top to bottom and the spacecraft altitude was 292 km (182 mi) and north is to the right. 

Image acquisition date: November 17, 2011

Local Mars time: 14:34

Latitude (centered): 35.151°

Longitude (East): 304.531°

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, in Tucson, operates HiRISE. It was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

For more information on MRO, visit:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mro

science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/mission/index.html

Video Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Narrator: Tre Gibbs
Caption Credit: HiRISE Science Team 

Duration: 49 seconds
Release Date: Jan. 3, 2012

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