The Summit of Olympus Mons

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Caption:

Released 9 October 2003

Bold scarps and extensional features (grabens) record multiple stages of caldera collapse at the summit of Olympus Mons. The wrinkle ridges are contractional features, and probably formed during the cooling of an ancient lava lake, prior to the collapse events. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in our solar system, reaching heights of over 40 km tall from base to summit, with the base covering an area as large as the state of Arizona.

Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 18.5, Longitude 226.6 East (133.4 West). 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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