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Thick stacks of clay minerals indicate chemical alteration of thick stacks of rock by interaction with liquid water on ancient Mars as seen in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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Chemical Alteration by Water, Mawrth Vallis

Thick stacks of clay minerals indicate chemical alteration of thick stacks of rock by interaction with liquid water on ancient Mars. Aluminum clays overlying iron/magnesium clays here in the ancient terrains of Mawrth Vallis indicate a change in environmental conditions. Aluminum clays may form by near-surface leaching while iron/magnesium clays may form in the subsurface. The image is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. (References: Wray et al., 2008; Loizeau et al., 2010.)

Image details

ID#:
PIA15098

Date added:
2011-11-21

Target:
Mars

Mission:
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Spacecraft:
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Instruments:
High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)

Size:
860 x 647 pixels (width x height)

Rating:



Views:
1,547

Full-Res TIFF:
PIA15098.tif (1.67 MB)

Full-Res JPG:
PIA15098.jpg (0.1 MB)

Image credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona