Deposits in Martian Trough Point to Complex Hydrological Past

This false-color image shows dozens of beds within a light-toned deposit located within a trough in the Noctis Labyrinthus region of Mars

Variations in composition of light-toned deposits in troughs on Mars suggest a diversity of water-related processes, based on analysis of observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

› Read the Planetary Science Institute release

View this site car shipping

Fermi Telescope Caps First Year With Glimpse of Space-Time [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Antarctic Airborne Science Mission Nears Mid-Point [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA Awards Education Research Grants to Minority Universities [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
New Celestial Map Gives Directions for GPS [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA Invites Reporters to Tranquility Node Ceremony at Kennedy [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Happy Halloween [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA's Fermi Telescope Detects Gamma-Ray From "Star Factories" in Other Galaxies [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA Announces Advisory Council Chairs and Committee Structure [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA and X Prize Announce Winners of Lunar Lander Challenge [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals More Hidden Territory on Mercury [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Successful Flight Through Enceladus Plume [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Education Secretary Hosts DC Students for Talk with Space Station [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Operation Ice Bridge Studies Antarctic Sea Ice [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA West Point Welcomes Home One of Their Heroes [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA Spitzer Observes a Chaotic Planetary System [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
X-38 Crew Return Vehicle Finds New Home [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Frost-Covered Phoenix Lander Seen in Winter Images [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Have some faith He is doing his best [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
The Cross [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Spring Bloom in New Zealand Waters [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA Hubble image showcases star birth in M83, the Southern Pinwheel [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Take Me Out to the Ballpark - On Mars! [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Poisk Poised for Live NASA TV Space Station Docking [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Ceremony Reset for ESA Handover of Tranquility to NASA [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
NASA Reproduces a Building Block of Life in Laboratory [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
Now Online: Aeronautics Goes E-Book [Last Updated On: December 12th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 12th, 2009]
Water on the Moon, Drought on Earth: NASA Experts Available for Radio And Podcast Interviews During Major Science Meeting [Last Updated On: December 12th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 12th, 2009]
Launch of NASA's Wise Spacecraft Delayed Until Dec. 14 [Last Updated On: December 12th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 12th, 2009]
Connecticut Students Set for Cosmic Conversation with Space Station Commander [Last Updated On: December 12th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 12th, 2009]
Magnetic Dance of Titan and Saturn To Be Main Attraction during Flyby [Last Updated On: December 12th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 12th, 2009]
Hubble's Deepest View of Universe Unveils Never-Before-Seen Galaxies [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Earth's Moon [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
How do you Make a Helicopter Safer to Fly? You Crash One. [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Physicist Earns Title as Kennedy's Best [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Hubble Unveils Never-Before-Seen Galaxies [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Saturn's Mysterious Hexagon Emerges from Winter Darkness [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Fermi Sees Brightest-Ever Blazar Flare [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Magnetic Power Revealed in Gamma-Ray Burst Jet [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Just 5 Questions: Aerosols [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Hometown Heroes 2009: Astronaut & Terrible Towel Return to Pittsburgh [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Garver Honors Four for Saving the Life of a Fifth at NASA Langley [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Administrator Bolden Speaks at AAIA-WIA Luncheon [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Best (Meteor) Shower of 2009 - No Towel Required [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
NASA Making Government More Accessible With Cutting-Edge Use Of New Media [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Scarce Water, Our Quiet Sun and Space Rocks Among NASA News Highlights at American Geophysical Union Meeting [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Press Credentials Deadlines Set for Next Space Shuttle Flight [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Reddish Dust and Ice Migration Darken Saturn's Moon Iapetus [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Galaxy Collision Switches on Black Hole [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
I’m watching the launch of NASA’s WISE spacecraft [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
SOFIA Aloft [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
Guide to the International Space Station Laboratory Racks Interactive [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2009]
Freezing WISE's Hydrogen [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2009]
Local High School Wins Invention Challenge [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2009]
WISE Ready to Soar Into Space [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2009]
NASA Data Reveal Major Groundwater Loss in California's Heartland [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
NASA Looks for Safer Icing Forecast For Pilots [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
Challenges of Living and Working Aboard the Space Station: NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott Available for TV Interviews [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
NASA Astronaut, Food Scientist Available for Interviews about Holiday Feasts in Space [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
NASA Launches Web Site for Teenagers That Want More Class [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
A Unique Geography -- and Soot and Dust -- Conspire Against Himalayan Glaciers [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
New Study Turns Up the Heat on Soot's Role in Himalayan Warming [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
NASA's WISE Eye on the Universe Begins All-Sky Survey Mission [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
NASA Offers Sound Clips for Radio, Online Newscasters [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
NASA Gets Up-Close Look at Far Corner of the Globe [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
Orion Launch Abort System Attitude Control Motor Test-fired [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
Hubble Finds Smallest Kuiper Belt Object Ever Seen [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
The Dark Side of Carbon [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
R97UYEA6HD8W [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
NASA's AIM Satellite and Models are Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious "Night-Shining" Clouds [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
Classroom Learning Takes Off with NASA-Funded Education Projects [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
NASA Buys Additional Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motors [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
Searching for New Vaccines and Studying Butterflies in Space; NASA Offers TV Interviews about Latest Space Station Science Research [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
NASA Partners with Saudi Arabia on Moon and Asteroid Research [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
New Results from a Terra-ific Decade in Orbit [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
NASA Outlines Recent Greenhouse Gas Research [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
Unexpected Wheel-Test Results [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
Solar Storms and Radiation Exposure on Commercial Flights [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
Global Digital Elevation Model [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
Hubble's Festive View of a Grand Star-Forming Region [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2009]
NASA Calculates a Carbon Budget for the State of California [Last Updated On: December 18th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 18th, 2009]