Ius and Tithonium Chasmata

Ius and Tithonium Chasmata are located at the western end of Valles Marineris. Tithonium Chasma is north of Ius Chasma. Valles Marineris is over 4000 kilometers long (2495 miles), almost as wide as the United States. Ius Chasma is almost 840 kilometers long (522 miles), 120 kilometers wide and over 8 kilometers deep. Tithonium Chasma is 803 km (499 miles) long. In comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is about 175 kilometers long (109 miles), 30 kilometers wide, and only 2 kilometers deep. The canyons of Valles Marineris were formed by extensive fracturing and pulling apart of the crust during the uplift of the vast Tharsis plateau. Landslides have enlarged the canyon walls and created deposits on the canyon floor. Weathering of the surface and influx of dust and sand have modified the canyon floor, both creating and modifying layered materials. There are many features that indicate flowing and standing water played a part in the chasma formation. The rugged floor of Ius Chasma (lower half of image) is comprised of large landslide deposits.

Orbit Number: 89711 Latitude: -6.50729 Longitude: 272.316 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-03-06 02:35

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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.