A SERIES OF TERRAINS ON THE WEST FLANK OF OLYMPUS MONS (16-21 N 215-223 E) DISPLAY UNUSUAL CHARACTERISTICS AND APPEAR TO BE REMARKABLY YOUNG OFFERING INSIGHT INTO MODERN SURFACE PROCESSES AND POSSIBLE AQUEOUS ACTIVITY ON THE LARGEST VOLCANIC COMPLEX ON MARS. DISTRIBUTED OVER 100 KM TEN INDIVIDUAL SEMICIRCULAR TERRAINS RANGE FROM 2-10 KM IN DIAMETER BUT EXHIBIT NO APPARENT TOPOGRAPHIC EXPRESSION HAVE ELEVATED THERMAL INERTIA AND VARIABLE ALBEDO. THEY HAVE ZONED MARGINS THAT CROSSCUT OR OVERPRINT SEVERAL TYPES OF FEATURES INTERPRETED TO BE AEOLIAN IN ORIGIN INCLUDING DUNES YARDANGS EROSIONAL SCOURS AND CROSS-BEDDED LAYERS OF THE HOSTING MEDUSA FOSSAE FORMATION STRIATED (AMS) AND OLYMPUS MONS FORMATION AUREOLE (AOAMA) UNITS. REGIONALLY THE ANOMALOUS TERRAINS PARALLEL THE AUREOLE FRACTURE SYSTEM AND LOCATED UPSLOPE ARE EXTENSIVE LAVA FLOWS AND LOBATE DEPOSITS INTERPRETED TO BE LATE AMAZONIAN-AGED GLACIERS. ALTHOUGH THIS REGION IS AN AREA OF NET DUST DEPOSITION PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF VISIBLE/NEAR-INFRARED REFLECTANCE DATA FROM THE COMPACT RECONNAISSANCE IMAGING SPECTROMETER FOR MARS (CRISM) SHOWS SIGNS OF POSSIBLE HYDRATION OR PRESENCE OF SALT-BEARING MATERIALS AN OBSERVATION THAT WOULD BE PRECLUDED BY EVEN A THIN DUST COATING. MOREOVER NO CRATERS ARE OBSERVED ON THE TERRAINS FURTHER SUGGESTING AN EXTREMELY YOUNG TO MODERN SURFACE AGE. WE PROPOSE TO STUDY THESE INTRIGUING TERRAINS WITH MULTIPLE REMOTELY-SENSED DATASETS IN ORDER TO CONSTRAIN THE NATURE OF THEIR ORIGIN AND FORMATIONAL HISTORY AS WELL AS THEIR CONNECTION TO REGIONAL GEOLOGY AND GEOLOGIC PROCESSES. FIRST WE WILL IDENTIFY AND MAP FEATURES BASED ON MORPHOLOGIC SPECTROSCOPIC AND THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND DETERMINE RELATIVE AGES BASED ON SUPERPOSITION AND EMBAYMENT RELATIONSHIPS. SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION WILL BE SUPPORTED BY LABORATORY WORK INCLUDING ANALYSES OF ANALOG SAMPLES FROM THE ANTARCTIC DRY VALLEY HYPERSALINE PONDS. BASED ON PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS WE EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO DELINEATE UNITS RELATED TO TECTONIC CRATERING VOLCANIC AEOLIAN AND AQUEOUS/GLACIAL/PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES AND WE WILL USE THESE RESULTS TO DETERMINE THE MOST LIKELY FORMATIONAL SCENARIO. REGARDLESS OF THE ORIGINAL EMPLACEMENT MECHANISM HOWEVER IT IS CLEAR THAT WIND HAS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN SHAPING THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE. CHARACTERIZATION OF AEOLIAN LANDFORMS AND MATERIALS EXPOSED IN THE ANOMALOUS TERRAINS WILL THUS PERTAIN TO AN AREA OF MARS THAT IS POORLY UNDERSTOOD BECAUSE OF THE OBSCURING DUST MANTLE. THESE ANOMALOUS TERRAINS OFFER VALUABLE WINDOWS INTO THE HOSTING GEOLOGIC UNITS THEIR EMPLACEMENT AND MODIFICATION HISTORY AND INSIGHT ON EXTREMELY RECENT IF NOT ONGOING SURFACE PROCESSES ON MARS.