Exposed Bedrock on the Red Planet's Hale Crater

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

This image from MRO, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the Red Planet's Hale Crater, a large impact crater (more than 62 miles, or 100 kilometers, across) with a suite of interesting features such as active gullies, active recurring slope lineae (long markings that are dark or bright) and extensive icy ejecta flows. There are also exposed diverse (colorful) bedrock units.

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Source / Image Courtesy

HiRISE has been monitoring steep slopes on Mars because some of them reveal active processes. In some cases, there are many seasonal flows on warm slopes, suggesting some role for water in their activity.