Collapsed
rock layers formed this Aureum Chaos region of irregular knobs and hills on
Mars, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The
outcropping reveals multiple rock layers with different colors and textures.
The bottommost layer is light-toned and has little internal structure other
than occasional fractures. Above that sits a darker layering of rock with a
broken appearance, followed by finer stepped layers. The very top of the
outcrop has knobs and spires that may be the eroded remnants from the top of
the former rock mesa.
The origin
of the rocks remains a mystery, but could have come from several sources. Dust
or volcanic ash may have settled from the Martian atmosphere, wind-blown sand
could have accumulated, or perhaps sediment from a long-gone lake was left
behind.
— NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
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