The Claritas Fossae region is characterised by systems of “graben” running mainly north-west to south-east. A graben forms when a block of the planet’s crust drops down between two faults, due to extension, or pulling, of the crust.
This observation can help measure displacements across well-exposed normal faults to investigate stress history and material properties.
This caption is based on the original science rationale.
Written by: HiRISE Science Team (13 July 2011)
This is a stereo pair with ESP_022621_1535 .
More info and image formats at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_022476_1535
Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona