PIA05625: "Last Chance" Evidence of Ancient Water Flow
Target Name: Mars
Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun)
Mission: Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Spacecraft: Opportunity
Instrument: Microscopic Imager
Panoramic Camera
Product Size: 386 samples x 234 lines
Produced By: JPL
Full-Res TIFF: PIA05625.tif (88.2 kB)
Full-Res JPEG: PIA05625.jpg (14.98 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

figure 1 for PIA05625
Figure 1

This view of the lower portion of the martian rock called "Last Chance" (see PIA05482) shows a close-up of texture interpreted as cross-lamination evidence that sediments forming the rock were laid down in flowing water. NASA's Opportunity took the original image during the rover's 38th sol in Mars' Meridiani Planum region (March 2, 2004).

In the central part of the image, the dip of fine layers at angles to each other (cross laminae) suggests that the water that created the cross-lamination was flowing from left to right. Interpretive black lines trace these cross-laminae. Interpretive blue lines indicate boundaries of possible sets of cross-laminae (Figure 1).

figure 2 for PIA05625
Figure 2

A three-dimensional visualization of this portion of the rock offers additional details of the cross-lamination (see PIA05626). The visualization and the image from the panoramic camera are compared to show a point of correlation (yellow arrow, Figure 2).

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell/ARC

Image Addition Date:
2004-03-24