Clay minerals in the Mawrth Vallis region
Clay minerals in the Mawrth Vallis region
This image shows light-coloured deposits of clay minerals up to 200 metres deep in the outflow of Mawrth Vallis at the transition from the Martian highlands to the Chryse Planitia lowlands. The deposits were produced when volcanic rocks came into contact with water, the rocks weathered, and layers of clay minerals were formed in the process. The study of this region is particularly interesting for astrobiology because it is quite possible that fossil traces of microorganisms have been preserved in the rocks. This perspective view was derived from a digital terrain model based on stereo image data acquired by DLR’s HRSC instrument on ESA's Mars Express orbiter. There is a distance of approximately 15 kilometres between the three craters, which are arranged like two 'eyes' and a 'mouth'.
