NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Images – October 2, 2013

Differential Compaction around a Crater Peak http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_033108_1800

Does the graben in this image show evidence of what geologists call “differential compaction”?

Aligned Scallops http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_033111_2300

This observation shows what we call “scalloped terrain,” that appears here to merge in a linear depression.

Colorful Dunes http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_033272_1400

When there are perfect conditions for producing sand dunes–steady wind in one direction and just enough sand–barchan sand dunes form.

All of the HiRISE images are archived here: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

Information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is online at http://www.nasa.gov/mro. The mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, of Denver, is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft. HiRISE is operated by the University of Arizona. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., of Boulder, Colo., built the HiRISE instrument.