Canyon in DCS Color

This image shows two representations of the same infra-red image covering a portion of Ganges Chasma. On the left is a grayscale image showing surface temperature, and on the right is a false-color composite made from 3 individual THEMIS bands. The false-color image is colorized using a technique called decorrelation stretch (DCS), which emphasizes the spectral differences between the bands to highlight compositional variations.
The canyon at the top of this image is dominated by a bright red/magenta area consisting primarly basaltic materials on the floor of the canyon and atmospheric dust. Within that area, there are patches of purple, on the walls and in the landslides, that may be due to an olivine rich mineral layer. Sand dunes are also present in this canyon. In the middle of the image, the green on the mesa between the two canyons is from a layer of dust. The patchy blue areas in the southern chaotic region are likely due to water ice clouds.