MSIP: A Bend In The River in Tiu Vallis

The Gates Intermediate School began the Mars Student Imaging Project (MSIP) with 122 students divided into 24 teams. Each team created a proposal and, through the peer review process, seven proposals were selected. Two teams were formed to actually select a site. The Tiu Vallis site was selected by the 'Water' group. In the context image there appeared to be several features that would result in deposition. The first was a 'bend in the river'. There also was a structure that looked like a confluence of two streams that would result in deposition. The actual THEMIS image is dominated by a channel. There also is a confluence at the bottom of the image. The channel contains three lobate flow deposits. One team went on to investigate the flows to see if they could determine their relative age.
NOTE: The above caption was written by the MSIP team that targeted this image. There has been no editing of content by ASU. NASA and Arizona State University's Mars Education Program is offering students nationwide the opportunity to be involved in authentic Mars research by participating in the Mars Student Imaging Project (MSIP). Teams of students in grades 5 through college sophomore level have the opportunity to work with scientists, mission planners and educators on the THEMIS team at ASU's Mars Space Flight Facility, to image a site on Mars using the THEMIS visible wavelength camera. For more information go to the MSIP website: http://msip.asu.edu