landscape – Brian Christian

[Notice the fine shadows in the upper left corner…]
Most of the oldest terrains on Mars have eroded into branching valleys, as seen here in by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), much like many land regions of Earth are eroded by rain and snowmelt runoff. This is the primary evidence for major climate change on Mars billions of years ago. How the climate of Mars could have supported a warmer and wetter environment has been the subject of scientific debates for 40 years. A full-resolution enhanced color closeup reveals details in the bedrock and dunes on the valley floor (upper left). The bedrock of ancient Mars has been hardened and cemented by groundwater.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Image Date: December 2016
Release Date: May 10, 2017

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA Solar System Exploration
The University of Arizona
Ball Aerospace
USGS News: Everything We’ve Got

#NASA #Mars #Space #Astronomy #Science #Valley #Bedrock #Groundwater #Climate #ClimateChange #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #MRO #Reconnaissance #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #Camera #JPL #STEM #Education

By Marsel van Oosten www.squiver.com
Earth is embarking on its sixth mass extinction phase with animals disappearing 114 times faster than they used to. Not since the age of the dinosaurs ended 66 million years ago has the planet been losing species at this rapid rate, but this time we’re entirely to blame. I’m pessimistic about the future of our planet, considering our species’ never-ending greed and pathological tendency to act only when it’s already too late, but I’m not ready to give up yet. Luckily, there are still people who look beyond their own microcosm and selfie obsession, and see the bigger picture – people like Margot Raggett. When she asked me if I wanted to collaborate on her Remembering Rhinos project, I didn’t have to think twice. We’re about to lose some of our most iconic megafauna: polar bears, tigers, gorillas, orang-utan, and rhino, and there is no time to waste. I honestly don’t know whether this is going to save the rhino, but at least we’re trying to make a difference. If we would all try that, then there’s still hope.
Please visit www.rememberingrhinos.com – Marsel van Oosten

#photography #landscape #rhinoceros #portrait

Tag: landscape

Mars: An Ancient Valley Network | NASA MRO

“Remembering Rhinos”