NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Lava Flows and Surface Textures

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Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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The striking surface textures observed in this THEMIS image taken south of the volcano Arsia Mons are from different erupted lava flows. Many flows extend for several kilometers and are observed to crosscut previous existing flows. The variable surface textures could result from older and younger lava flows, differences in the composition and vessicularity of magma, or different degrees of weathering.

[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