Context image

This VIS image shows a region of chaos near the terminal end of Morava Valles. Located in Margaritifer Terra, Morava Valles is one of several channels that empty northward towards Chryse Planitia. Morava Valles arises from a region of chaos. Chaos terrain is also found along the course of the channel and may occur where the channel flow fluid warmed the subsurface ice creating additional release points for melted subsurface ice. Chaos terrain is typified by regions of blocky, often steep sided, mesas interspersed with deep valleys. With time and erosion the valleys widen and the mesas become smaller. It has been proposed that a catastrophic outflow of subsurface water creates the chaos and provides the surface flow creating the channel.

Orbit Number: 79002 Latitude: -11.1516 Longitude: 338.097 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-06 08:08

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.