Context image

Today's VIS image shows a section of one of the graben that comprise Elysium Fossae. Graben are formed during tectonic activity, where blocks of material slide down between paired faults. Graben are common around volcanic regions on Mars. The rise of magma to the surface bows up the ground, creating the extensive forces that create graben.

Orbit Number: 77698 Latitude: 22.948 Longitude: 156.114 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-06-20 23:13

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.