Categories: Mars

Eroded Valleys on Mars

This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows the Dao Valles and Niger Valles, a system of outflow channels on Mars.

The image was taken during orbit 528 in June 2004, and shows the Dao Valles and Niger Valles areas at a point where the north-eastern Hellas impact crater basin and the Hesperia Planum volcanic region meet.

The image is centred at Mars longitude 93? East and latitude 32? South. The image resolution is 40 metres per pixel.

The outflow channel system is, in some areas, 40 kilometres wide. The north-eastern ends of the two valleys are almost 200 metres deeper than the south-western regions which are also shown here. The northern Dao Valles, 2400 metres deep, is about 1000 metres deeper than the more southern Niger Valles.

The structure of the valley floor of the Niger Valles is characterised by terraced basins and chaotic fractures. The floor of the Dao Valles is much smoother, but covered with strongly eroded remnants.

These eroded valleys are in a region which is part of the southern flank of the Hadriaca Patera volcano. The surrounding surface is formed by lava streams, probably in a ‘runoff’ process.

Original Source: ESA News Release

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Here's a link to my Mastodon account.

Recent Posts

Hubble and Webb are the Dream Team. Don't Break Them Up

Many people think of the James Webb Space Telescope as a sort of Hubble 2.…

5 hours ago

Scientists Have Figured out why Martian Soil is so Crusty

On November 26th, 2018, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight)…

13 hours ago

Another Way to Extract Energy From Black Holes?

Black holes are incredible powerhouses, but they might generate even more energy thanks to an…

19 hours ago

Plastic Waste on our Beaches Now Visible from Space, Says New Study

According to the United Nations, the world produces about 430 million metric tons (267 U.S.…

2 days ago

Future Space Telescopes Could be Made From Thin Membranes, Unrolled in Space to Enormous Size

As we saw with JWST, it's difficult and expensive to launch large telescope apertures, relying…

2 days ago

Voyager 1 is Forced to Rely on its Low Power Radio

Voyager 1 was launched waaaaaay back in 1977. I would have been 4 years old…

3 days ago