Gullies Along Martian Crater Wall

Image Title: Gullies Along Martian Crater Wall
Release Date: September 25, 2006
Source: Mars Global Surveyor

Description

One of the many surprises about Mars revealed by the Mars Global Surveyor was the presence of gullies in the walls of valleys and craters. Also surprising was that most of these gullies were found along the northern walls of these craters and valleys. As always with Mars, the role of water in the creation of these gullies has been hotly debated.

The image at the left is just one of many examples of these gullies. These gullies happen to be found in the northern wall of an unnamed crater. For scale, the width of the image shown is approximately 3 kilometers.

Source Image Background

The source image was acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor MOC narrow-angle camera in December 2001. The location of the target is 39.13°S latitude, 166.30° W longitude.

Image Processing

All processing of this image was done using Adobe Photoshop. This includes noise removal, the application of false color, tonal adjustments, and contrast enhancements.

Wallpaper Download

I have created a compressed low resolution version of "Gullies Along Martian Crater Wall" for use as a desktop wallpaper. This wallpaper version is made available for your personal use only. It is not to be modified or redistributed in any form by any means. All rights are retained by the artist.

Gullies Along Martian Crater Wall, 1024 x 768 Wallpaper Image by Jim Plaxco