This VIS image was taken in the Tartarus region of Mars. The lava flows covering the upper right portion of the image have a very different texture than the Arsia Mons flows. These flows illustrate a platy lava surface. This surface type develops when the top of a lava flows cools and then is broken into pieces by continued movement of the flow. Molten lava will squeeze up between the plates of cooled lava, forming the ridges seen in the image.

Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 5.9, Longitude 157.8 East (202.2 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.

Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, 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.