This image shows the northern rim of a crater in Deuteronilus. At the northern end, we see the crater rim and ridges inside and below that rim. A channel set is entering from the west and passing through a notch in a ridge. Topographically below that notch, overlapping lobes spread over the crater floor .

Fan-shaped lobes likes these are also in the desert southwest of the United States, and are called “alluvial fans.” They are caused when streams that carry sediment in a confined channel open up onto a plain or wide area, and deposit their sediment just outside of the channel mouth.

Written by: Ross Beyer (audio: Tre Gibbs)   (10 February 2016)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_028274_2160 .

More info and image formats at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_044388_2160

Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona