NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Layers and erosion and more layers

Image Context:


Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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This image is located within a set of eroded layered rocks known as the
Medusae Fossae Formation. Careful inspection of this image reveals four
separate layers. Starting at the bottom of the image, as well as the bottom
of the sequence of layers, is a somewhat hilly, cratered plain. Above that
is a mud or lava flow with a lobate edge that is characteristic of fluid flow.
Above that is a layer with a spectacular rayed crater. This layer shows
linear erosional patterns that are probably caused by persistent wind
abrasion, typical of rocks in this area. And finally, a more blocky unit lies
on top, mostly eroded away.

[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