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PIA20608: Mangala Fossa
The channel feature in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is called Mangala Fossa. This feature was formed by tectonic activity, with the walls being faults that allowed the central portion to slide downward forming a graben.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  2001 Mars Odyssey 
 Spacecraft:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Instrument:  THEMIS 
 Product Size:  676 x 1421 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Arizona State University 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA20608.tif (680.1 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA20608.jpg (88.84 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 PIA20608
Context image

The channel feature in this VIS image is called Mangala Fossa. This feature was formed by tectonic activity, with the walls being faults that allowed the central portion to slide downward forming a graben. In this area the walls of the graben have been modified by erosion and several landslides. The floor host a flow feature entering from the left side of the image.

Orbit Number: 63040 Latitude: -15.6638 Longitude: 217.878 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-02-29 11:55

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:
2016-05-13