This image shows layered rocks an expanse of yardangs (wind-sculpted hills) contained within Firsoff Crater in Meridiani Planum. Firsoff is a 90-kilometer diameter crater, and most of its interior is covered in similar features as those found in this single HiRISE image.

The rock layers are thought to be evidence of cyclic deposition, caused by changes in the orbit of Mars. The changes in the climate are imprinted into the rock record as different layers either because the rocks were cemented together differently in various eras and/or a difference in the grain size of material that was available at the time.

These cycles are known as “Milankovitch cycles,” and on Earth there are many well known cases of sedimentary rocks that preserve evidence of these cycles. Because Mars does not have a large enough moon to stabilize its obliquity, the climatic changes on Mars from Milankovitch cycles may be dramatic enough to control sedimentation globally.

ID: ESP_085216_1830
date: 30 September 2024
altitude: 271 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_085216_1830
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
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