The objective of this image is to examine the exposure of thin layers along the walls of a few-kilometer-wide valley in Sinus Meridiani.

These layers can then be compared to other observations of layers in the region, allowing scientists to map individual layers over much larger regions than covered by a single image. Understanding the regional extent of layers will aid in studies of the past environmental conditions on Mars that led to the formation of these layers.

Sinus Meridiani also has vast outcrops of sedimentary rocks with a great deal of diversity . The region covers an area about the size of the Colorado plateau in the United States.

Written by: HiRISE Science Team   (28 November 2012)

More info and image formats at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_028353_1815

Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona