NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Wind Streaks in Syrtis Major

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Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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Windstreaks are features caused by the interaction of wind and

topographic landforms. The raised rims and bowls of impact craters

causes a complex interaction such that the wind vortex in the lee

of the crater can both scour away the surface dust and deposit it

back in the center of the lee. If you look closely, you will see

evidence of this in a darker “rim” enclosing a brighter interior.

These windstreaks are located on the lava flows of

Meroe Patera in Syrtis Major.

[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