Context image

Today's image shows the channel floor of Mawrth Vallis. Of all the channels carved by flowing water on Mars, one of the more unusual is Mawrth Vallis, whose name comes from the Welsh word for Mars. Mawrth Vallis winds through northwest Arabia Terra for some 640 kilometers (400 miles) before emptying into Acidalia Planitia on the edge of the vast northern lowlands. Unlike many outflow channels that start in regions of chaotic terrain, Mawrth Vallis just appears and then grows deeper as it heads downstream, holding a width of approximately 15 km (9 mi) until it widens near its mouth at Chryse Planitia. And the floor of the channel is a much more complex surface than most channels, with layers of different materials and a decidedly non-waterworn appearance. Today's image is located within an almost 90 degree bend in the channel.

Orbit Number: 87662 Latitude: 22.708 Longitude: 341.608 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-09-18 09:34

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.