Explanation:
At first glance these undulating shapes in shades of blue might
look like waves
on an ocean.
Seen here in a false-color image from the
Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter's
HiRISE camera, they
are actually layered rock outcrops found in Aureum Chaos.
The larger Aureum Chaos region is a
chaotic jumble of eroded terrain in the eastern part of Mars' immense
canyon Valles Marineris.
Distinct
layers composing these outcrops could have been
laid down by dust or volcanic ash settling from the
atmosphere, sand carried by martian winds,
or sediments deposited on the floor of an ancient lake.
This
close-up view of the otherwise red planet spans
about 4 kilometers, a distance you might
walk over flat ground in less than an hour.
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080404.html'; digg_skin = 'compact';
