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Today's VIS image shows part of Hydaspis Chaos, one of many regions of chaos in Margaritifer Terra. Chaos terrain is typified by mesas and valleys. The initial breakup of the surface can be due to tectonic forces, although on Mars it is thought that the mode of formation involves release of melted subsurface ice. With time and erosion the valleys widen and the mesas grow smaller. Hydaspis Chaos is is part of the huge outflow system flowing from Valles Marineris to Chryse Planitia. The channel in the center of the image becomes part of the larger Tiu Valles channel.

Orbit Number: 87600 Latitude: 3.42796 Longitude: 332.822 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-09-13 06:56

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.