PIA25944: Alba Fossae
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Spacecraft:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Instrument:  THEMIS
 Product Size:  618 x 2693 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Arizona State University
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA25944.tif (844.4 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA25944.jpg (127.8 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

Context image for PIA25944
Context image

Alba Fossae is a set of long valleys on the western side of Alba Mons. These valleys are referred to as graben and are formed by extension of the crust and faulting. When large amounts of pressure or tension are applied to rocks on timescales that are fast enough that the rock cannot respond by deforming, the rock breaks along faults. In the case of a graben, two parallel faults are formed by extension of the crust and the rock in between the faults drops downward into the space created by the extension. Numerous sets of graben are visible in this THEMIS image, trending from north-northeast to south-southwest. Because the faults defining the graben are formed perpendicular to the direction of the applied stress, we know that extensional forces were pulling the crust apart in the west-northwest/east-southeast direction. The large number of graben around Alba Patera is generally believed to be the result of extensional forces associated with the uplift of Alba Mons. Numerous small channels are visible at the top of this image and are related to lava flows in this region.

Orbit Number: 94023 Latitude: 42.8531 Longitude: 244.135 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-02-24 04:33

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.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Image Addition Date:
2023-06-01