This beautiful image shows terrific layers and exposed bedrock along a cliff in west Candor Chasma, which is part of the extensive Valles Marineris canyon system.

A Context Camera (CTX) image of this area showed that the strata is not entirely horizontal, and that there may be crossed beds, or lenses pinching out, or some other texture/structure that might give a clue as to the depositional setting of the sediment that makes up these layers.

This image shows the area in greater detail and resolution, so we can compare what we have gleaned from CTX and MOC images to develop a better understanding of what we’re looking at and how to interpret the past history of the region.

Written by: HiRISE Science Team (audio by Tre Gibbs)   (16 October 2013)

More info and image formats at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_017174_1730

Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona