New Global Surveyor pictures of Martian gullies
NASA/JPL/MSSS PHOTO RELEASE
Posted: May 2, 2002

Kaiser
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
 
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows gullies emergent from a specific layer in the wall of an ancient crater within a much larger crater, Kaiser. Located at 46.4 deg S, 341.4 deg W, this picture obtained in early southern summer also shows a plethora of dark, and in some places squiggly, streaks. The streaks are thought to have been formed by the passage of dust devils that removed or disrupted a thin coating of dust from the surface. Such streaks commonly form at martian middle latitudes in late spring and early summer. The gullies in the crater wall were likely eroded by a fluid, perhaps water. This picture was obtained in January 2002; it covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated from the upper left.

Newton
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
 
This dramatic view of gullies emergent from layered outcrops occurs on the wall of a crater within the much larger impact basin, Newton. Newton Crater and its surrounding terrain exhibit many examples of gullies on the walls of craters and troughs. The gullies exhibit meandering channels with fan-shaped aprons of debris located downslope. The gullies are considered to have been formed by erosion--both from a fluid (such as water) running downslope, and by slumping and landsliding processes driven by the force of gravity. This picture was obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in March 2001; it is illuminated from the upper left and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across.

Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.