Jezero Crater Delta

At the top of today's VIS image is a delta deposit that was created by the flow from the rim channel into the crater. Deltas form when sediments settle out due to a decrease in speed of a river system. Deltas often form where large rivers flow into the ocean, like the Mississippi and Nile deltas. This can also occur where rivers flow into large lakes, such as the Great Salt Lake and Lake St. Clair river deltas. It is believed that the Jezero Crater delta formed this way. The delta in Jezero Crater has been chosen as the location for the Mars 2020 mission.

Orbit Number: 77838 Latitude: 18.1853 Longitude: 77.4252 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-07-02 11:53

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.