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On Mars, the term 'chaos' terrain is given to regions where areas of the surface are broken up into multiple mesas divided by low valleys. Channels in regions of chaos indicate that fluids played a part in the formation of these regions. Today's VIS image shows a channel within a region of chaos NW of Nili Fossae.

Orbit Number: 38485 Latitude: 28.4626 Longitude: 72.64 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-08-11 12:42:46

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.