Ceti Mensa (edm - natural colors; credits: Lunexit)

This image gives us another clue to the formation of Ceti Mensa. Close-up examination shows fine banding in the layers of Ceti Mensa that is exposed by the ongoing erosion. The banding is produced by alternating bright and dark material. The thickness of the individual bands ranges from a few meters down to the resolution limit of the image, a few tens of centimeters. The bands are parallel, although they appear wavy on the irregular, eroded surface.

The banding visible in this image most closely resembles terrestrial lake deposits and similar rocks formed in aqueous, low energy depositional environments. Structures such as cross-bedding that are hallmarks of wind-deposited sediments are absent, as are cobbles and clasts that are typical of glacial sediments. If this interpretation is correct, the thickness of Ceti Mensa suggests formation in standing bodies of water that were several kilometers deep.