Gale (crater)

MarsGeo-Crater


caption=Topographic elevation map of Gale, with proposed landing ellipse for MER-A
latitude=4.6
N_or_S=S
longitude=137.2
E_or_W=E
name=Gale
diameter=150 km
eponym=Walter Frederick Gale

Gale is a crater on Mars. It is about 150 km in diameter and is near the border of the lowlands of Elysium Planitia at coord|4.6|S|137.2|E|globe:Mars. It is about 3.5 to 3.8 billion years old. [http://themis.asu.edu/features/galecrater Mars Odyssey Mission THEMIS: Feature
] ] It was named after Walter Frederick Gale.

An unusual feature of Gale is an enormous mound of debris around its central peak, rising 5.5 km above the northern crater floor and 4.5 km above the southern crater floor - slightly taller than the southern rim of the crater itself. The mound is composed of layered material and may have been laid down over a period of around 2 billion years. The origin of this mound is not known with certainty, but research suggests it's the eroded remnant of sedimentary layers that once filled the crater completely, possibly originally deposited on a lakebed.

Gale was a candidate landing site for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission and Mars Science Laboratory and as of 2007 is one of several prospective sites for ESA's ExoMars. Numerous channels eroded into the flanks of the mound could give access to the layers for study.

References

External links

* [http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001897_1745 Layers in Gale Crater]
* [http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_002464_1745 Central debris mound in Gale crater]