Layers Upon Layers

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Caption:

Released 12 May 2003

A cliff of many terraces steps down from the south to the north in this image, showing many successive layers of material now eroded and exposed to the wind. A relatively thick and bright layer comprises one of the lowest strata, appearing more fluted and scarred by the wind than upper layers. Small bright bedforms near the terraces are probably composed of particulate material shed from this bright layer.

Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -9.8, Longitude 285.4°East (74.6). 19 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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