Martian Mélange
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Martian Mélange
ESP_029484_1670  Science Theme: Composition and Photometry
“Mélange” means a confusing mixture, and is used to describe rocks scraped off the top of a downward-moving tectonic plate in a subduction zone on Earth. On Mars it is probably mostly impact cratering that creates such chaotic mixture of rock types rather than plate tectonics.

These warm, enhanced colors are due to minerals altered by water, whereas the blue and green colors are from unaltered minerals such as olivine and pyroxene.

This image was acquired in Tyrrhena Terra, some of the most ancient highlands of Mars.

Written by: Alfred McEwen  (28 November 2012)
 
Acquisition date
09 November 2012

Local Mars time
15:37

Latitude (centered)
-12.716°

Longitude (East)
91.424°

Spacecraft altitude
259.3 km (161.1 miles)

Original image scale range
52.1 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~156 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
5.0°

Phase angle
58.3°

Solar incidence angle
53°, with the Sun about 37° above the horizon

Solar longitude
204.0°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  2.9°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (163MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (92MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (65MB)
non-map           (104MB)

IRB color
map projected  (24MB)
non-map           (101MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (181MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (163MB)

RGB color
non map           (91MB)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.