This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is reminiscent of the rugged and open terrain of a stark shore-line, perhaps of an island nation, such as the British Isles. A close-up in enhanced color produces a striking effect, giving the impression of a cloud-covered cliff edge with foamy waves crashing against it. The reality is that the surface of Mars is much dryer than our imaginations might want to suggest. This is only a tiny part of a much larger structure; an inverted crater -- a crater that has been infilled by material that is more resistant to erosion than the rocks around it -- surrounded by bluish basaltic dunes. The edge of these elevated light-toned deposits are degraded, irregular and cliff-forming. Dunes visible below the cliff, give the impression of an ocean surface, complete with foam capped waves crashing against the shore line, demonstrating the abstract similarity between the nature of a turbulent ocean and a Martian dune field. Meridiani Planum has an over

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is reminiscent of the rugged and open terrain of a stark shore-line, perhaps of an island nation, such as the British Isles. A close-up in enhanced color produces a striking effect, giving the impression of a cloud-covered cliff edge with foamy waves crashing against it. The reality is that the surface of Mars is much dryer than our imaginations might want to suggest. This is only a tiny part of a much larger structure; an inverted crater -- a crater that has been infilled by material that is more resistant to erosion than the rocks around it -- surrounded by bluish basaltic dunes. The edge of these elevated light-toned deposits are degraded, irregular and cliff-forming. Dunes visible below the cliff, give the impression of an ocean surface, complete with foam capped waves crashing against the shore line, demonstrating the abstract similarity between the nature of a turbulent ocean and a Martian dune field. Meridiani Planum has an over
SuperStock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is reminiscent of the rugged and open terrain of a stark shore-line, perhaps of an island nation, such as the British Isles. A close-up in enhanced color produces a striking effect, giving the impression of a cloud-covered cliff edge with foamy waves crashing against it. The reality is that the surface of Mars is much dryer than our imaginations might want to suggest. This is only a tiny part of a much larger structure; an inverted crater -- a crater that has been infilled by material that is more resistant to erosion than the rocks around it -- surrounded by bluish basaltic dunes. The edge of these elevated light-toned deposits are degraded, irregular and cliff-forming. Dunes visible below the cliff, give the impression of an ocean surface, complete with foam capped waves crashing against the shore line, demonstrating the abstract similarity between the nature of a turbulent ocean and a Martian dune field. Meridiani Planum has an over by Piemags/PL Photography Limited is available for licensing today.

Visually Similar More from Mars Geological Features story

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Captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, shown here are bizarre landforms in Gorgonum Basin. This basin may have contained an ancient lake, with channels draining into the lake from the sides.
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HiRISE has been operating since 2006, and lately many of our observations of gullies are repeat images designed to study changes. However, we are also collecting data over gullies never before seen at this resolution, to study their morphology and allow us to look for changes in the future. This is the first HiRISE look at a cluster of gullies that appear modified or degradedthe gully fans have ripples and ridges that have formed since the last major gully activity, suggesting that they don't change very often, but we won't know for sure unless we look!
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Gullies are commonly found in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars. In this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter they start near top of a long ridge, and descend into an impact crater that lies at the bottom of the ridge.
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The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the interior deposit of Firsoff Crater.
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a portion of the floor in Palos Crater on equatorial Mars. The floor appears bumpy with high-standing layered knobs; most of its terrain is weathering into meter-size (yard-size) polygonal blocks.
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The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This false color image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the floor of Pollack Crater.
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The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. The linear depressions in today's false color image are part of Nili Fossae. Nili Fossae is a collection of curved faults and down-dropped blocks of crust between the faults. The fossae, or graben, lie northeast of the large volcano Syrtis Major and northwest of the ancient impact basin Isidis Planitia. The troughs, which can be almost 500 meters (1,600 feet) deep , make concentric curves that follow the outline of Isidis Planitia. The graben likely formed as the crust sagged under the weight of lava flows filling the Isidis Planitia impact basin. The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the Martian surface using five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image
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This is a false color image of the dune field in the Arabia Terra crater. In this combination of bands, sand appears as a blue to dark blue color. In this image, the smaller areas of sand are easily visible and indicate the large amount of available material for creating dunes. Located in eastern Arabia is an unnamed crater, 120 kilometers (75 miles) across. The floor of this crater contains a large exposure of rocky material, a field of dark sand dunes, and numerous patches of what is probably fine-grain sand. The shape of the dunes indicate that prevailing winds have come from different directions over the years. The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 71,000 times. It holds th
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This false color image shows part of the floor of Hale Crater and the elongate axis of the central peak mountains. Hale Crater is an example of an oblique impact crater. The mountain chain trends from the southeast towards the northwest, increasing in height towards the northwest. The incoming meteor struck the surface along this trend, forming an oval crater and displacing the impact energy forward to create the central mountain range. Hale Crater is 150 km x 125 km in diameter (93 miles x 77 miles) and is located near the northern part of Argye Plainitia. The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Orbit Number 66105 Latitude -35.5732 Longitude 323.646 Instrument VIS Captured 2016-11-07 23 04
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows dark dunes in the western Medusae Fossae. This image shows no large dunes, but many of the dark sand patches cover slopes up to discrete layers.
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converted PNM file
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Scientists have come to realize that, just below the surface, about one third of Mars is covered in ice. We study this ice to learn about Mars' ancient climate and astronauts' future water supplies. Sometimes we see the buried ice because cliffs form like the one in this image. On the brownish, dusty cliff wall, the faint light-blue-colored ice shows through. Some of these cliffs change before our eyes and boulders of ice can tumble downhill. We take repeat images of these scenes to check for changes like this.
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This highly tectonized terrain (meaning it possesses many faults), as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has its low-lying areas filled with some form of younger material.
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Gully Activity in Triolet Crater. Gullies lying on the northeast slopes of Triolet Crater (about 11.6 km in diameter ), are located in the Southern Highlands just east of Gorgonum Chaos. Some gullies have eroded through resistant layers up to the crater rim. At the downslope are fans of debris that overlap with those of nearby gully systems, suggesting that there were multiple periods of gully activity in this region. Just south of the gullies is a large fracture that cuts through the crater rim. This fracture is part of the Sirenum Fossae system that slices across the region for over 1,000 kilometers from the northeast to the southwest. Because this fracture (or fossae ) cuts through the rim and ejecta blanket of Triolet Crater, this means that the crater is older than the fracture. This is known as a cross-cutting relationship and demonstrates a basic principle in geology known as the law of superposition. https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25708
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a well-preserved impact crater. A closeup view highlights distinctive bright lines and spots on the steep slope on the north side.
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Schaeberle Crater is a large, heavily-infilled crater with many interesting features. This image NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft shows a window into the crater fill deposit, showcasing eroding bedrock and aeolian landforms.
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Iani Chaos - Another View In False Color
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On Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter often sees inverted river channels preserved perched above the surrounding terrain because the sediment inside the river channel was stronger than its surroundings. This is common in the American Southwest in places where lava flowed down river channels and the surrounding sandstone subsequently eroded away leaving ridges in places that started as valleys. There's another example of high-standing columns protected by a strong cap rock, called hoodoos. Looking more closely at our image, we see what looks like a crater and its rays of ejecta, preserved and slightly higher than the surrounding terrain, possibly due to a similar process.
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The focus of this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is on the western end of a fan-shaped landform, located at the end point of a sinuous valley.
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The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This false color image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Ares Vallis.
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The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows two craters, one inside the other. These unnamed craters are located in Arabia Terra. Dunes are visible on the floor of the inner crater. Orbit Number 70157 Latitude 6.47569 Longitude 346.696 Instrument VIS Captured 2017-10-07 19 45
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Image Number: 6145-45258155Royalty FreeCredit Line:Piemags/PL Photography Limited/SuperStockCollection:PL Photography LimitedStory:Mars Geological FeaturesContributor:PiemagsModel Release:NoProperty Release:NoResolution:2880×1800