Crater Delta

Today's VIS image shows two unnamed channels on the western edge of Claritas Fossae. The small channel joins the larger one close the the crater rim. The main channel has formed a delta in the crater. Deltas are formed when sediment laden rivers slow down – either due to a flattening of topography, or entering a standing body of water. The reduction in velocity causes the sediments to be deposited. The main channel often diverges into numerous smaller channel that spread apart to form the typical fan shape of a delta.

Orbit Number: 92145 Latitude: -39.0947 Longitude: 256.903 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-09-22 12:24

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.