Valles Marineris

Valles Marineris (Latin for Mariner Valley, named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971-72 which discovered it.) is a vast canyon system that runs along the Martian equator just east of the Tharsis region. At 4,500 km long, 200 km wide and 11 km deep, the Valles Marineris rift system is ten times longer, seven times wider and seven times deeper than the Grand Canyon of Arizona, making it the largest known crevice in the solar system.

Related Topics:
Latin - Mariner - Mariner 9 - Martian - Tharsis - Grand Canyon - Arizona

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The Valles Marineris is located along the equator of Mars, on the east side of the Tharsis Bulge and stretches for nearly a fourth of the planet?s circumference. The Valles Marineris system starts in the west with the Noctis Labyrinthus, proceeds east to Tithonium and Ius Chasmata, then Melas and Ophir Chamata, proceeding to Coprates Chasma, then Ganges, Capri and Eos Chasmata, finally empting out into an outflow channel composed of chaotic terrain and finally the Northern Plains. Most researchers agree that Valles Marineris is a large tectonic "crack" in the Martian crust, forming as the planet cooled, affected by the rising crust in the Tharsis region to the west, and subsequently widened by erosional forces. However, near the eastern flanks of the rift there appear to be some channels that may have been formed by water or carbon dioxide.

Related Topics:
Tharsis - Noctis Labyrinthus - Tithonium - Ius Chasmata - Melas - Ophir Chamata - Coprates Chasma - Ganges - Capri - Eos Chasmata - Northern Plains - Tectonic - Water - Carbon dioxide

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