Crater with Surrounding Bench in Sinus Meridiani (3-D)

May 24, 2012

This image is located within Northern Sinus Meridiani, a region of ridged terrains and extensive stratigraphic layering.

Originally identified in a Mars Orbiter Camera image (MOC), this 10 kilometer (approximately 6 miles) diameter crater is surrounded by a prominent bench. As this HiRISE image shows, there is extensive layering in the upper cap units.

The bench formed because these layered surface units are eroding at a faster rate than the more resistant underlying materials that comprise the rest of the crater.

Image source: https://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_023382_1845