19 November 2010

Is this an angular unconformity on Mars?

Posted by Callan Bentley

Jason Buchheim, one of the people I met last week in Pittsburgh, just posted a Gigapan of images stitched together from the Mars Observer MER HiRise. Part of it jumped out at me as being similar to the map pattern we see on Earth where an angular unconformity outcrops:

Here, I’ve highlighted the pattern which caught my eye:

On the other hand, the increasing inflection of the “lower” (in the photo) strata towards the right suggests maybe this is just cross bedding, like this example in pyroclastic deposits on Mauna Kea, Hawai’i:

mauna_kea_05

What do you think? Explore Jason’s Gigapan on your own and let me know your thoughts. Especially you, Ryan!