Rectangles with Wiggly Sides
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Rectangles with Wiggly Sides
ESP_048124_0975  Science Theme: Seasonal Processes
Ground that has a lot of water ice mixed with dirt tends to crack in polygonal patterns bounded by short straight channels. In the South Polar region of Mars this type of terrain may be covered by a seasonal polar cap composed of dry ice.

In the spring as the seasonal cap sublimates gas is trapped underneath the seasonal ice layer until it can escape to an opening. At this site, faint rectangular channels in the surface are visible. The escaping carbon dioxide gas has exploited these channels and in the process, deepened them and added sinuosity to the formerly straight segments.

This interesting site was identified by citizen scientists at Planetfour: Terrains.

Written by: Candy Hansen (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (27 January 2017)
 
Acquisition date
01 November 2016

Local Mars time
16:18

Latitude (centered)
-82.347°

Longitude (East)
272.554°

Spacecraft altitude
246.8 km (153.4 miles)

Original image scale range
24.7 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~74 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel

Map projection
Polarstereographic

Emission angle
0.2°

Phase angle
63.1°

Solar incidence angle
63°, with the Sun about 27° above the horizon

Solar longitude
252.9°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  111°
Sub-solar azimuth:  42.8°
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   (803MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (387MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (436MB)
non-map           (565MB)

IRB color
map projected  (241MB)
non-map           (485MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (200MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (183MB)

RGB color
non map           (458MB)
BONUS
4K (TIFF)
8K (TIFF)

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.