A mountain of sulphurous sediments in Becquerel Crater
A mountain of sulphurous sediments in Becquerel Crater
A mountain around 1000 metres high and consisting of bright sedimentary layers has formed inside Becquerel Crater. The deposits partly consist of sulphates that contain water in their crystal structure. Sulphates, such as the calcium sulphate gypsum, are created on Earth by the evaporation of water. It is presumed that these sediments were formed by the interaction of emerging ground water in low-lying regions (impact craters, for example) and dust transported by the wind, possibly in conjunction with ash deposits.
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As a joint undertaking by DLR, ESA and FU Berlin, the Mars Express HRSC images are published under a Creative Commons licence since December 2014: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. This licence will also apply to all HRSC images released to date.