Tractus Catena

This VIS image shows part of Tractus Catena, just one of many north/south trending tectonic graben located south and east of Alba Mons. The features running vertically and horizontally in the image are both part of Tractus Catena. The horizontal section is younger than the vertical section, but it is not known when the horizontal part formed in relation to the vertical. While other graben in the area are identified as fossae (defined as a long, narrow depression), the circular depressions within these graben lead to the descriptor name catena (defined as a chain of craters). In this case the craters are a result of roof collapse into an underlying open space such as a lava tube.

Orbit Number: 89387 Latitude: 22.0871 Longitude: 255.805 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-02-07 10:28

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.