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West Arabia Sedimentary Rocks

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows sedimentary rock outcrops within a crater in western Arabia Terra on Mars. The sediments may have been deposited in an intracrater lake.
PIA06977
Credits: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
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Description

31 October 2004
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows sedimentary rock outcrops within a crater in western Arabia Terra near 8.8°N, 1.3°W. These are eroded from the same rocks as seen in an earlier MOC Picture of the Day from 1 December 2003. The repeated nature of these layers indicate episodic changes took place in the sedimentary depositional environment. The sediments may have been deposited in an intracrater lake. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left/upper left.