Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Ridges swimming in a sea of dust

Image Context:

Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team

[ Find on map: Javascript version ]

[ Find on map: CGI version ]

The muted terrain of northern Acidalia Planitia testifies to the fact that the region is heavily mantled with dust. The most interesting features in this image are
the small terraces located along the flanks of the ridges and the patterned ground seen at the base of the largest ridge (upper right). These features appear to be
classic examples of periglacial landforms and may indicate the presence of shallow subsurface ice.

[Source: ASU THEMIS Science Team]

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, 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/Arizona State University