Elysium Fossae and Iberus Vallis

Today's VIS image contains a section of one of the many channel forms found radial to the Elysium Mons volcanic complex. In this case the fossae is located to the southeast of the volcano. The channel feature is thought to have both a tectonic and volcanic origin. The linear depression at the upper left of the image resembles a graben (formed by tectonic forces) and the smaller sinuous channels below the large linear depression more closely resemble features caused by fluid flow – either lava or water created by melting subsurface ice by volcanic heating. The linear depression is called Elysium Fossae, and the sinuous channel is called Iberus Vallis. Iberus Vallis is 87 km long (54 miles).

Orbit Number: 88018 Latitude: 21.5352 Longitude: 151.454 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-17 17:04

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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.