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Light-toned Rocks

Nov. 23, 2005
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows light-toned rock outcrops in northeastern Sinus Meridiani on Mars. The entire northern Sinus Meridiani region has vast exposures of light-toned, layered rock.

23 November 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned rock outcrops in northeastern Sinus Meridiani. The entire northern Sinus Meridiani region has vast exposures of light-toned, layered rock, covering an area many times greater than that of all the famous sandstone, limestone, and shale outcrops of northern Arizona and southeastern Utah. The rocks in this image are probably similar to those explored by the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, but probably are of a different age and position in the region's geologic history.

MGS MOC and Mars Odyssey THEMIS images were recently used to describe the complex geology of the Sinus Meridiani region, as detailed in the open access Mars journal article, "The sedimentary rocks of Sinus Meridiani: Five key observations from data acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey orbiters," by Malin Space Science Systems' K. S. Edgett. The paper is available at: doi:10.1555/mars.2005.0002.

Location near: 0.3°S, 356.0°W
Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Southern Summer

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