The Forces that Shaped Mars
New images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter suggest a
host of forces probably carved the red planet's great valley network.
The images reveal in stereo the western end of the vast Valles Marineris Canyon
system, which is far larger than the Grand Canyon. Specifically this picture
shows the Tithonium Chasma in perspective view, looking east.
Among the forces that likely carved the valleys, according to project scientists:
Movement of the crust (called tectonic activity); water and wind action; volcanism;
and glacial activity.
The canyon floors are covered by a dark, layered material that may be volcanic
deposits from as recently as a million years ago. These deposits are marked
by a system of polygonal cracks through which the underlying, lighter-colored
rock can be seen.
The valley flanks have been modified by rock falls and slumping, when a substantial
part of a mountain, cliff or hill breaks away and slides more or less intact
to the bottom of the slope.
-- SPACE.com Staff
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
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