Craters Modified by Ice

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Caption:

Released 2 October 2003

These craters, located in the southern highland heavily cratered terrain, show heavy degradation, most likely caused by the presence of water ice. A smaller crater is located in the floor of a larger crater, showing lobate ejecta thought to be created by water melted by the force of the impacting body. Gullies on the northern rim of the smaller crater may indicate accumulations of snow and subsequent melting. In the larger crater, the northern rim is greatly softened, with sinuous features suggestive of downslope flow, also potentially caused by creep of ground ice.

Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -40.4°, Longitude 132.5° East (227.5%deg; West). 38 meter/pixel resolution.

Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.

Background Info:

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, 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.

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