Tag Archives: impact melt

HiRISE: Cross-section of a complex crater

Posted on January 25, 2019 by rburnham

This image shows a cross-section of a complex crater in Terra Cimmeria. Starting in the center, we see a series of peaks with exposed bedrock. These peaks formed during the impact event when material that was originally several kilometers below … Continue reading →

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Opportunity report, Sol 5042, by A.J.S. Rayl, The Planetary Society

Posted on April 11, 2018 by rburnham

April 11, 2018: Opportunity Presses On in Perseverance, Pace Picks Up: In the west rim of Endeavour Crater, Opportunity continued her exploration of Perseverance Valley in March – humankind’s first study of a carved channel in an ancient crater on … Continue reading →

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Impact-heated rock led to relatively recent water-carved valleys on Mars

Posted on June 13, 2017 by rburnham

New research shows that water from melted snow and ice likely carved valley networks around Lyot crater on Mars. Present-day Mars is a frozen desert, colder and more arid than Antarctica, and scientists are fairly sure it’s been that way … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Bedrock exhumed from the deep

Posted on January 19, 2017 by rburnham

Roadside bedrock outcrops are all too familiar for many who have taken a long road trip through mountainous areas on Earth. Martian craters provide what tectonic mountain building and man’s TNT cannot: crater-exposed bedrock outcrops. Although crater and valley walls … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Preserved ejecta and impact melt

Posted on January 12, 2017 by rburnham

This image of a well-preserved unnamed elliptical crater in Terra Sabaea, is illustrative of the complexity of ejecta deposits forming as a by-product of the impact process that shapes much of the surface of Mars. Here we see a portion … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Landslide, impact melt or lava?

Posted on January 9, 2015 by rburnham

This observation shows the full-width of a HiRISE image and its enhanced color strip, which only covers approximately 20 percent of the picture. The image is approximately 6 by 6 kilometers and is located east of Noctis Labyrinthus, in a … Continue reading →

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Steam jets made pits in crater floors

Posted on September 14, 2012 by rburnham

At first glance, the floors of many large impact craters on Mars have areas that appear smooth and flat. But a closer look at some of these flat floors shows a much more rugged landscape, where one small cuplike pit … Continue reading →

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Mars Rover Opportunity explores Cape York

Posted on May 4, 2012 by rburnham

Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity reached the south end of Cape York, a segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater about 700 meters (2,300 feet) long, on August 9, 2011. Scientists and engineers examined several targets there before driving the rover … Continue reading →

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