This image shows an uplifted region within
an impact crater to the west of
Nili Fossae on Mars, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The
crater’s central floor rebounded upward immediately after impact, forming a
ring of hills and raising up formerly buried rocks from deep beneath the Martian surface. MRO
used infrared spectrometers to see minerals within the uplift rocks such as
quartz, clays and other water-bearing silicates. Such evidence suggests the
earlier and perhaps ongoing presence of liquid water somewhere on Mars.
Blocks measuring from 10 to over 300 feet have coloring
differences that indicate different compositions. The force of the impact has
shuffled such blocks into a disorganized mess known as impact breccia, with the
color-enhanced dark blue likely indicating patches of sand on top of the rocks.
— ESA and SPACE.com Staff
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Service
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