This image from NASAs Mars Odyssey shows Tiu Valles, part of a large system of channels that arise from Vallis Marineris and flow northward to empty into Chryse Planitia.

November 24, 2021

Context image for PIA24998
Context image

The channel form at the top of this VIS image is part of Tiu Valles. The impact crater has affected the course of the channel, as has the small hill at the top of the image. This type of feature, a hill with a teardrop shaped section, is called a streamline island. The hill interrupts the fluid flow, creating eddies on the downstream side where the flow velocity lessens and it is unable to erode as easily as in the main part of the channel. The teardrop points downstream. Located in Margaritifer Terra, Tiu Valles is part of a large system of channels that arise from Vallis Marineris and flow northward to empty into Chryse Planitia.

Orbit Number: 86527 Latitude: 16.6616 Longitude: 325.954 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-06-16 22:38

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.

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

ENLARGE

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