THEMIS Vistas

OUT OF ARABIA. Mawrth Vallis makes a snaky groove as it descends from the highlands of Arabia Terra in the right background. The dark rough areas in the foreground contain deposits of weathered clays that are evidence of a wet period early in Martian history. The clays could contain microscopic traces of life if a Martian biosphere existed. NASA may land the Mars Science Laboratory rover in the smooth area at right foreground, just outside the rim of the large crater visible in part on the right. This view looks southeast and has a 1.5x vertical exaggeration. (A 430 kB version of the image is available.) Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University, R. Luk.

To explore this area further, see In the Groove: Mawrth Vallis.