PIA22402: Complex Erosion
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Spacecraft:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Instrument:  THEMIS
 Product Size:  1390 x 2645 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Arizona State University
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA22402.tif (2.616 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA22402.jpg (259.9 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

Context image for PIA22402
Context image

This VIS image is located on the margin of the Nili Fossae region and Isidis Planitia. At the bottom of the image a channel feature is visible, the branch on the right appears to empty into the surface at the top of the image. The branch to the left does not reach the top of the image, so it is likely flowing from the upper left into the bottom channel. The 90 degree bends of this large channel feature indicated that tectonic forces are affecting the features formed in this region. This is further supported by the series of very small orthogonal ridges just north of the center of the image. These small ridges probably were formed in a multi part process. First tectonic activity created fractures in a preexisting rock, then a new material filled the fractures, finally erosion of the host rock occurred, removing the original materials and leaving just the fracture fill. Both the large and small scale features in this region point to a long period of tectonic activity in this region.

Orbit Number: 71850 Latitude: 17.3258 Longitude: 76.8457 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-02-24 07:15

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.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Image Addition Date:
2018-05-29