This approximately 20 kilometer diameter impact crater is located just to the south of Coprates Chasma in Valles Marineris.

Near the center of the crater are some light-toned rocks. These rocks are very jumbled and broken up rather than flat-lying and layered. These observations suggest that the light-toned rocks once existed below the current terrain and were brought up by the process that created the crater.

Several other craters around Valles Marineris also reveal light-toned rocks in their central peaks suggesting that the light-toned rocks are a regional unit that is buried beneath the lava plains that now surround Valles Marineris.

Written by: Cathy Weitz   (5 May 2010)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_025375_1680 .

More info and image formats at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_017292_1680

Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona