Faulted Sedimentary Rocks

27 June 2004
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows some of the layered, sedimentary rock outcrops that occur in a crater located at 8°N, 7°W, in western Arabia Terra. Dark layers and dark sand have enhanced the contrast of this scene. In the upper half of the image, one can see numerous lines that off-set the layers. These lines are faults along which the rocks have broken and moved. The regularity of layer thickness and erosional expression are taken as evidence that the crater in which these rocks occur might once have been a lake. The image covers an area about 1.9 km (1.2 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left.