| Summary: | High-resolution images of the martian surface at scales of a few meters show ubiquitous erosional and depositional eolian landforms. Dunes, sandsheets, and drifts are prevalent and exhibit a range of morphology, composition (inferred from albedo), and age (as seen in occurrences of different dune orientations at the same location). Steep walls of topographic depressions such as canyons, valleys, and impact craters show the martian crust to be stratified at scales of a few tens of meters. The south polar layered terrain and superposed permanent ice cap display diverse surface textures that may reflect the complex interplay of volatile and non-volatile components. Low resolution regional views of the planet provide synoptic observations of polar cap retreat, condensate clouds, and the lifecycle of local and regional dust storms. © 1998 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 10 February 1998; accepted 17 February 1998. An experiment of the size and complexity of the MOC is truly a team effort; no one person, or even small group, can design, develop, fabricate, test, and operate such a device; we are deeply indebted to the literally hundreds of people without whom the Mars Observer, and later Mars Global Surveyor Camera, could not have been built and flown to Mars.
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