Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) High Resolution Images

Western Candor Chasma, Valles Marineris

 

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Release:          MOC2-59a, -59b, -59c, -59d, -59e
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Image ID:         568534375.8403
							   P084-03 (C, below);
							   576779012.23304
							   P233-04 (D, below);
							   577575955.25205
							   P252-05 (E, below).
(A)
270 KByte GIF image

(A) The Valles Marineris trough system is more than 4,000 kilometers (2500 miles) in length. Each "Chasma" that makes up the trough system is labeled above (e.g., Ophir is "Ophir Chasma"). White box indicates the location of the context image shown below in (B). Three MOC images within this box are presented in (C), (D), and (E). Picture is a mosaic of Viking Orbiter images from the U.S. Geological Survey. North is up.

(B)
113 KByte GIF image

(B) Western Candor Chasma. Small white boxes indicate the approximate locations of each of the MOC images shown below. Each box is labeled with an image number--8403 is the third image from Mars Global Surveyor orbit 84 (shown in (C), below); 23304 is the fourth image from orbit 233 (D, below); and 25205 is the fifth image from orbit 252 (E, below). Picture is a mosaic of Viking Orbiter images from the U.S. Geological Survey. North is up.

(C)
136 KByte GIF image

(C) Layers in western Candor Chasma northern wall. MOC image 8403 subframe shown at full resolution of 4.6 meters (15 feet) per pixel. The image shows an area approximately 2.4 by 2.5 kilometers (1.5 x 1.6 miles). North is up, illumination is from the left. Image 8403 was obtained during Mars Global Surveyor's 84th orbit at 10:12 p.m. (PST) on January 6, 1998.

(D)
291 KByte GIF image

(D) Layers exposed near the middle of western Candor Chasma. MOC image 23304 subframe shown at 10.7 meters (35 feet) per pixel. Two layered buttes (upper right and lower right) and a layered or stepped mesa (center right) are shown. The image covers an area approximately 5.5 by 5.5 kilometers (3.4 x 3.4 miles). North is approximately up, illumination is from the lower right. Image 23304 was obtained during Mars Global Surveyor's 233rd orbit at 9:23 a.m. (PDT) on April 11, 1998.

(E)
273 KByte GIF image

(E) Massive (non-layered) material exposed in central Candor Chasma. MOC image 25205 subframe shown at 11.7 meters (38.4 feet) per pixel resolution. Image shows the southern tip of a massive "interior deposit" that points like a giant tongue from Ophir Chasma (to the north) down into the center of Candor Chasma. The ridged and grooved bright unit is the "interior deposit". South of this ridged unit is a low elevation surface mantled by dark dunes and sand. Image covers an area approximately 5.7 by 5.7 kilometers (3.5 x 3.5 miles). North is approximately up, illumination is from the lower right. Image 25205 was obtained during Mars Global Surveyor's 252nd orbit at 2:45 p.m. (PDT) on April 20, 1998.

You may need to adjust the images for the gamma of your monitor to insure proper viewing.

Note: This MOC image is made available in order to share with the public the excitement of new discoveries being made via the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The image may be reproduced only if the image is credited to "Malin Space Science Systems/NASA". Release of this image does not constitute a release of scientific data. The image and its caption should not be referenced in the scientific literature. Full data releases to the scientific community are scheduled by the Mars Global Surveyor Project and NASA Planetary Data System. Typically, data will be released after a 6 month calibration and validation period.

Click Here for more information on MGS data release and archiving plans.

 CAPTION

One of the most striking discoveries of the Mars Global Surveyor mission has been the identification of thousands of meters/feet of layers within the wall rock of the enormous martian canyon system, Valles Marineris.

Valles Marineris was first observed in 1972 by the Mariner 9 spacecraft, from which the troughs get their name: Valles--valleys, Marineris--Mariner.

Some hints of layering in both the canyon walls and within some deposits on the canyon floors were seen in Mariner 9 and Viking orbiter images from the 1970s. The Mars Orbiter Camera on board Mars Global Surveyor has been examining these layers at much higher resolution than was available previously.

MOC images led to the realization that there are layers in the walls that go down to great depths. An example of the wall rock layers can be seen in MOC image 8403, shown above (C).

MOC images also reveal amazing layered outcrops on the floors of some of the Valles Marineris canyons. Particularly noteworthy is MOC image 23304 (D, above), which shows extensive, horizontally-bedded layers exposed in buttes and mesas on the floor of western Candor Chasma. These layered rocks might be the same material as is exposed in the chasm walls (as in 8403--C, above), or they might be rocks that formed by deposition (from water, wind, and/or volcanism) long after Candor Chasma opened up.

In addition to layered materials in the walls and on the floors of the Valles Marineris system, MOC images are helping to refine our classification of geologic features that occur within the canyons. For example, MOC image 25205 (E, above), shows the southern tip of a massive, tongue-shaped massif (a mountainous ridge) that was previously identified as a layered deposit. However, this MOC image does not show layering. The material has been sculpted by wind and mass-wasting--downslope movement of debris--but no obvious layers were exposed by these processes.

Valles Marineris is a fascinating region on Mars that holds much potential to reveal information about the early history and evolution of the red planet. The MOC Science Team is continuing to examine the wealth of new data and planning for new Valles Marineris targets once the Mapping Phase of the Mars Global Surveyor mission commences in March 1999.

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, CA. 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, CA and Denver, CO.

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