30 September 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an
example of the extremely odd, seemingly scrambled layered rocks exposed by
erosion near the deepest part of the deepest basin on Mars, Hellas. This
pattern of eroded, and perhaps deformed layers was once exposed to the
martian surface, then buried, and more recently exposed again. The story
behind these layers is not really understood; some members of the MOC team
have -- for nearly 9 years now -- taken to calling these features,
"taffy-pull terrain."
Location near: 43.1°S, 307.3°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Spring
