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Beautiful Layers in the Central Uplift of Mazamba Crater

Oct. 30, 2013
This is only one of four impact craters on Mars known that possesses intact layers exposed in the central uplift in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

This is only one of four impact craters known that possesses intact layers exposed in the central uplift.

Scientists believe this layered material originates from kilometers beneath the present surface and is raised up during the formation of the crater itself. These craters give us a window into these deep layers, which would otherwise remain hidden.

HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

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