Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
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Detailed information on this image is available at the THEMIS Data Releases website.

 

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

 

The remarkably rugged terrain that is part of a massive lobe of material extending over 700 km from the basal scarp of Olympus Mons is called sulci, which means furrows or grooves. This Latin word especially applies to the furrows on the surface of the brain, a definition that is visually fitting in the case of this image. The furrows are roughly a half to one km deep. Note the abundance of dark-toned slope streaks, which demonstrates that this is a region with significant dust accumulation. In addition, small dunes are present in some of the valleys.