{ "title": "Colorful Bedrock in a Northern Plains Crater", "authors": "HiRISE", "metadata": { "thumbnailURL": "https://static.uahirise.org/anews/2020-03-30/ESP_063376_2315.jpg", "excerpt": "Excavated by impact, the colorful rocks here remain visible in part thanks to the winds that shape the overlying sand dunes." }, "version": "1.5", "identifier": "ESP_063376_2315", "language": "en", "layout": { "columns": 10, "width": 1024, "margin": 85, "gutter": 20 }, "documentStyle": { "backgroundColor": "#faf7f2" }, "components": [ { "role": "heading1", "layout": "heading1Layout", "text": "HiPOD: 30 MARCH 2020" }, { "role": "divider", "layout": "bigDividerLayout", "stroke": { "width": 3, "color": "#8c2028" } }, { "role": "title", "layout": "halfMarginBelowLayout", "text": "Colorful Bedrock in a Northern Plains Crater" }, { "role": "video", "layout": "fullBleedLayout", "URL": "https://www.uahirise.org/media/clips/ESP_063376_2315_1080.mp4", "stillURL": "https://static.uahirise.org/anews/2020-03-30/ESP_063376_2315-title.jpg", "accessibilityCaption": "HiClip narration by Tre Gibbs." }, { "role": "body", "format": "html", "layout": "hipodMarginLayout", "text": "
This image covers the inside of an impact crater on the northern plains of Mars. It was intended to provide a baseline image of sand dunes on the crater floor, which could be monitored for potential motion in future pictures.
Much more than sand is visible. The dark, undulating dunes sit atop a colorful surface of exposed bedrock. Based on the crater's diameter of roughly 25 kilometers, these rocks may have been previously buried over a mile beneath the surface. The varying colors likely reflect diverse mineral compositions.
Excavated by impact, the colorful rocks here remain visible in part thanks to the winds that shape the overlying sand dunes, which help to sweep the crater’s center clear of surface dust.
ID: ESP_063376_2315
date: 2 February 2020
altitude: 306 km
NASA/JPL/UArizona