Larger image of Holden crater. Holden crater is an impact crater that formed within an older, multi-ringed impact basin called Holden basin. Before an impact created Holden crater, large channels crossed and deposited sediments in Holden basin. Blocks as big as 50 meters across were blasted from Holden basin when Holden crater formed, then fell chaotically back to the surface and eventually formed "megabreccia," a conglomeration of large, broken boulders mixed with smaller particles. HiRISE images show megabreccia outcrops in Holden crater walls. This megabreccia may be some of the oldest deposits exposed on the surface of Mars. At least 5 percent, by weight, of the fine sediments in the layer on top of the megabreccia consists of clay, according to another instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, or CRISM. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.
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