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These lava flows in Elysium Planitia are called platy flows. The surface of the lava flow cooled and solidified, while liquid lava beneath kept flowing. The continued flow broke apart the solid surface and moved the pieces like rafts. This VIS image shows a channel of such movement.

Orbit Number: 38819 Latitude: 6.03444 Longitude: 153.571 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-09-14 16:57

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.