Context image

This VIS image is located along the edge of the south polar cap. In the upper right corner the non-polar surface is visible. The tightly packed layers to the left are the edge of the polar cap, a very steep cliff-like feature. At the bottom half of the image is a surface where some, but not all, of the polar layers have been eroded away. This surface illustrates how the polar layering forms, filling in the low regions first until all the topography is covered.

Orbit Number: 74956 Latitude: -79.7732 Longitude: 100.129 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-11-07 03:11

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.