Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map


These small, dark dunes are located on the floor of Hellas Basin.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

What do you think about the Mars forest pictures. I think they are outstanding. I don't really know if they are real or not, What do you think???

I think this is best discussed in the Extraterrestrial Life & The UFO Phenomenon forum.

This thread is specifically for the scientific results returned by the Mars Odyssey mission.

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

These small dunes are located in the plains of Aonia Terra.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

These small, isolated dunes are located near the northeast margin of Copernicus Crater.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

These dust devil tracks are located in Noachis Terra.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

Numerous gullies dissect the northeastern rim of this unnamed crater in Noachis Terra.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

Multiple gullies are located on the northwestern rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map


These lava flows originated from Arsia Mons.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This complex of hills and surrounding lava flows is located northeast of Olympus Mons.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This VIS image shows part of the Meridiani Terra region.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This infrared image of Tiu Vallis contains two landslides.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

Although fog and dust partially obscure the floor of Coprates Chasma, a landslide deposit is visible in this image.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This landslide in Melas Chasma is so large that a single THEMIS VIS image can cover only a portion of the deposit. This image clearly shows the sub-radial grooves typical of the surface of landslides on Mars.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This image shows a portion of Candor Chasma, including unusual dark markings on part of the canyon wall.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This crater west of Claritas Fossae contains internal fractures that have been partially filled by a later deposit. This embayment indicates that the fracturing occurred prior to the deposition of the layer of material.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This VIS image illustrates one of the complexities of studying Mars. The small channel that enters the crater appears to become a ridge as it crosses onto the crater floor. This inversion of topography is due to several processes. Initially the channel would have carved into the crater rim and onto the floor. At some time material infilled the channel on the floor of the crater. This infilling material is more resistant to erosion than the surrounding material that has subsequently been removed. So the channel fill now is topographically a ridge, but is located where the original channel cut into the crater.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

The channel flowing into this unnamed crater in Xanthe Terra deposited materials forming a fan shape. When sediment filled fluids slow down the heavier sediments are dropped out, forming the delta.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

Long term winds in the area between Tharsis and Elysium have produced many dramatic landforms. Not all wind action is readily visible. The region shown in this image has been subject to wind erosion, but one must look closely to see the wind-eroded landforms. The crater at the upper part of the image shows an ejecta blanket winnowed by the wind.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

These sand dunes are located in the mountains at the margin of the Argyre Basin.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

The western rim of this crater contains multiple groups of dark slope streaks. These streaks are created when surface dust slides downward, revealing the darker material beneath.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

Winds in this region are sculpting and removing poorly cemented materials.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.

There are several reasons that an impact crater may end up not being round. Preexisting faults and fractures in the ground can control how the impact energy is distributed, resulting in corners or straight walls along the fracture trends. Very low angle impacts can 'skip' along the surface, creating an elongated crater.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.

The upper portion of this VIS image shows a small section of Padus Vallis, one of the many valles that empty into the Medusa Fossae Formation region.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


This complex of channels is part of Iberus Vallis, a lava channel system in the Elysium Volcanic complex.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


This simple channel is just one of the many lava channels in the Elysium Volcanic complex.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


The unusual windstreaks at the bottom of this VIS image appear to have formed around small dark sand dunes.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


These dark slope streaks are located within a small unnamed crater on the southern rim of Tikhonravov Crater.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.



This image shows a small portion of the floor of Proctor Crater. The part of the crater floor is host to hundreds of dust devil tracks.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.



This image shows a small portion of the floor of Proctor Crater. The part of the crater floor is host to hundreds of dust devil tracks.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


These dust devil tracks are located in the south polar region, just east of Daly Crater.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

amazing photos, I could look at these all day. Thanks for posting these!

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


This image shows a portion of the floor and inner "moat" of Hooke crater. The dunes are climbing up the inner wall of the "moat".

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


Located in a small unnamed crater southwest of Kuiper Crater, the dunes in this image are completely free of frost. This state won't last long as southern summer has ended and the long dark of southern winter is soon to begin.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


This field of sand dunes is located on the floor of Vinogradov Crater.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


Small bright dunes are present in almost every depression and channel bottom on Mars. Just at the limit of THEMIS resolution, these dunes look like tank treads rolling up channel floors. The dunes here are in the depressions of Melas Fossae.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Context information for this image is not available at this time.


Small dunes (bottom of frame) and channels (top of frame) are located on this region of the floor of Newton Crater.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This image of the eastern flank of Pavonis Mons shows a large collapse feature and the initiation of a similar feature with small collapses to the east.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

Channels in this southern crater arise from several locations on the rim and cut down through the interior floor materials.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This VIS image shows an area where the wind is removing and sculpting the surface. The majority of the surface material in this region is poorly cemented and easy to erode. The knobs and hills represent areas of more resistant material. The wind has less effect on the resistant material and erodes the material around it, leaving a positive topographic feature. In this image an impact cratering event has created a region of the crater and surroundings that is resistant. With time the crater has ended up as a knob, revealing just how much material the wind has been able to erode since the crater formed.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

The dunes in this VIS image are located on the floor of Herschel Crater. The wind is blowing southward across the two small craters at the top of the image. The turbulent vortex in the lee of the craters keeps the surface free of sand and sand dunes.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This VIS image shows a portion of Arabia Terra. There is an impact crater just out of the frame to the right and a larger one south of the frame. If one looks closely layering can be seen in the ejecta of both craters. There is also a region of orthogonal ridges.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

ya waspie- thanx for posting these pictures- they are fantastic

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

This VIS image shows some of the minor channels that are related to the major Kasei Valles system.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission

Image Context:


Wide Context:


Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
View on map

All three of these craters in Arabia Terra contain numerous dark slope streaks. The dark streaks mark where dusty material has been removed, revealing the darker material below. Small dust, dirt, or rock avalanches likely produce these marks.

Source: THEMIS - Mars Odyssey Mission