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The Edge

April 6, 2006
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the edge of a trough, which is part of a large pit crater complex in Noachis Terra on Mars. This type of trough forms through the collapse of surface materials into the subsurface, beginning as individual pit craters.

6 April 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the edge (running diagonally from the lower left to the upper right) of a trough, which is part of a large pit crater complex in Noachis Terra. This type of trough forms through the collapse of surface materials into the subsurface, and often begins as a series of individual pit craters. Over time, continued collapse increases the diameter of individual pits until finally, adjacent pits merge to form a trough such as the one captured in this image. The deep shadowed area is caused in part by an overhang; layered rock beneath this overhang is less resistant to erosion, and thus has retreated tens of meters backward, beneath the overhang. A person could walk up inside this "cave" formed by the overhanging layered material.

Location near: 47.0°S, 355.7°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Summer

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