Context image

Huge regions of complex valleys and chaos are located in Xanthe and Margaritifer Terras. Rising from Valles Marineris, outflow channels like Ares, Tiu and Shalbantana valles empty into Chryse Planitia. This VIS image shows part of Chryse Chaos, located within Masursky Crater, along the Tiu Valles channel. Chaos forms from erosion of the surface into mesa features. With time the valleys expand creating the jumble of hills seen in the image.

Orbit Number: 79152 Latitude: 11.5428 Longitude: 327.544 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-18 16:42

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.