PIA00336: West Candor Chasm, Approximately Natural Color

Target Name: Mars Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun) Mission: Viking Spacecraft: Viking Orbiter 2 Instrument: Visual Imaging Subsystem - Camera B Product Size: 964 samples x 832 lines Produced By: U.S. Geological Survey Addition Date: 1998-06-04 Primary Data Set: Viking EDRs Full-Res TIFF: PIA00336.tif (1.857 MB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA00336.jpg (107.1 kB)

Original Caption Released with Image: This picture (centered at latitude 4 degrees S., longitude 76 degrees W.) shows parts of central Valles Marineris, including Candor Chasm (lower left), Ophir Chasm (lower right), and Hebes Chasm (upper right). Complex layered deposits in the canyons may have been deposited in lakes, and if so, are of great interest for future searches for fossil life on Mars. The pinkish deposits in Candor Chasm (enhanced color version PIA00155) may be due to hydrothermal alterations and the production of crystalline ferric oxides (Geissler et al., 1993, Icarus 106, 380). Viking Orbiter Picture Numbers 279B02 (violet), 279B10 (green), and 279B12 (red) at 240 m/pixel resolution. Picture width is 2231 km. North is 47 degrees clockwise from top. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS