Xanthe Chaos
About this image
This VIS image shows part of Xanthe Chaos. Xanthe Chaos is a small region of mesas located within Shalbatana Vallis.
In planetary nomenclature, the descriptor term chaos means "distinctive area of broken terrain". The general morphology of chaos is steep-sided mesas with intervening small valleys. With time and erosion the valleys widen and the mesas grow smaller. While on many planets chaos terrain results from tectonic forces, on Mars it is most likely that chaos terrain results from the release of melted subsurface ice.
Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.