Which Formed First?

Scaled Image

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

About this image

Today's VIS image shows an unnamed channel in northern Terra Cimmeria. Two impact craters occur along the length of the channel. The crater rims are higher than the channel floor and are not breached. This observation means the craters are "on top" of the channel, and therefore are younger than the channel. Figuring out which feature formed first is called relative dating. We don't know the absolute ages of either the channel or the impact craters, or how much time elapsed between the channel being carved and the impacts that resulted in the craters. All we can say is what feature formed first.

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images. 

Context

Image ID: 
V78398007 (View data in Mars Image Explorer)
-2.18803
123.026
78398
2019-08-17 14:31
Mon, 2019-09-30
VIS
512 pixels (18 km)
1824 pixels (64 km)
0.0355 km/pixel
0.0359257 km/pixel

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