Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Alluvial fans are gently-sloping wedges of sediments deposited by flowing water. Some of the best-preserved alluvial fans on Mars are in Saheki Crater, an area that has been imaged many times previously.

This observation, captured on Jan. 23, 2016 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, covers two that expose the stratigraphy of the fans.

This image will be used to measure the depth of the fan and describe its depositional history, as well as closer view of some of these layers.

Provided by NASA