Erosion Effects on “Vera Rubin Ridge,” Mars

This view of "Vera Rubin Ridge" from the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows sedimentary layers, mineral veins and effects of wind erosion.

This area of lower Mount Sharp became a ridge by being more resistant to erosion than neighboring portions of the layered mountain. Here, the wind has eroded portions of the outcrop in unusual ways, so that elongated rock fragments can be seen protruding into the sky.

ChemCam's telescopic Remote Micro-Imager took the 10 component images of this mosaic on Aug. 24, 2017, during the 1,795th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. The camera was about 141 feet (43 meters) away from the pictured portion of the ridge. The rover's location at the time, in relation to the ridge, is shown in a Sol 1794 traverse map. The scale bar at lower right indicates how wide a feature 3.3 inches (8.5 centimeters) in width would look in the middle portion of the scene.

ChemCam is one of 10 instruments in Curiosity's science payload. The U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, developed ChemCam in partnership with scientists and engineers funded by the French national space agency (CNES), the University of Toulouse and the French national research agency (CNRS). More information about ChemCam is available at http://www.msl-chemcam.com/.