Gorgonum Chaos

This HiRISE image shows cratered plains along the edge of a large fracture to the south of Gorgonum Chaos. The wall of the fracture is in shadow and, at first glance, appears to reveal little detail about the geologic setting. In reality, the high quality of the HiRISE image, as shown in the stretched sub-image [below], demonstrates that considerable detail along the wall of the fracture can be discerned. A relatively dark layer extends along the upper wall of the fracture and approximately separates the exposed wall above from talus below. Some well defined talus chutes are also visible and are formed by the down slope movement of debris shed from higher along the fracture wall. The wind blown drifts of fine grained sediment accumulated along the base of the talus slope are relatively free of obvious talus. Hence, the wind likely accounts for much of the most recent modification of the scene in the sub image.