Context image

The channel-like features in this VIS image are tectonic graben. These graben are called Sirenum Fossae. Graben are created in regions of extensional tectonic stress, where the bedrock is faulted and pulled apart, allowing linear sections of the surface to drop downward along paired faults. The Sirenum Fossae graben are 2735km (1700 miles) long.

Orbit Number: 84903 Latitude: -30.8518 Longitude: 208.42 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-02-03 04:32

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.