PIA18223: Alluvial Fans
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Spacecraft:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Instrument:  THEMIS
 Product Size:  1419 x 2926 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Arizona State University
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA18223.tif (4.157 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA18223.jpg (322.9 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

Context image for PIA18223
Context image

Triangular shaped deposits at cliff edges are termed alluvial fans. Alluvial fans typically form in arid regions were water flow is limited, so deposits of material are not washed away. Formation of these alluvial fans in the channel of Kasei Valles likely happened after any flow of fluid in the Valles system.

Orbit Number: 54132 Latitude: 23.0851 Longitude: 291.525 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-02-26 02:28

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:
2014-04-30