Tharsis Tectonics

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Caption:

Context image

The Tharsis region of Mars is an immense region of volcanos, lava flows, and tectonic faulting. The entire area is a topographic bulge, with extensional stresses. The extension allowed magma to rise to the surface, creating the largest areal (Alba Mons) and tallest (Olympus Mons) volcanoes in the solar system. The extension also created faults and fractures. This VIS image shows some of the tectonic faults in the region.

Orbit Number: 81214 Latitude: 10.0823 Longitude: 240.355 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-04-05 11:31

Background Info:

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.

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