FLORIDA – Spaceship Mars The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Express has captured an impressive new view of Valles Marineris, a canyon or valley on the red planet. From the image obtained from browsing at the depths of Valles Marineris it is known that this is the largest canyon system in the solar system.
The European Space Agency (ESA) image, taken using a High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), also captures incredible detail at the bottom of the canyon. Unlike the Grand Canyon, which was sculpted by the Colorado River, Valles Marineris is believed to have formed from separate tectonic plates.
This violent movement on the Martian surface creates a jagged canyon floor, as seen in the new image. “Ius Chasma’s gnarled floor is just as attractive,” ESA officials wrote in a statement accompanying the new image.
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ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, which has been orbiting Mars since 2003, captured details of the two trenches that make up the western part of Valles Marineris, namely Ius Chasma and Tithonium Chasma. The images not only capture outstanding surface detail, but also highlight the impressive size of the trench.
“When the tectonic plates separated, it seems to have caused the formation of a jagged rock triangle that looks like a row of shark teeth. Over time, these rock formations have collapsed and eroded.”
Valles Marineris stretches 4,000 kilometers long, 200 km wide and 7 km deep, almost 10 times longer, 20 times wider and 5 times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Lus Chasma on the south side of the canyon is 840 kilometers long, while Tithonium Chasma on the north side is 805 km long.
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In comparison, the Grand Canyon is 446 km long and more than a mile at its deepest point. When compared to conditions on Earth, Valles Marineris stretches from the northern tip of Norway to the southern tip of Sicily.
ESA’s view of the two gorges captures Mars’ diverse surface features, ranging from dark sand dunes created by nearby volcanic activity. Spacecraft studying Valles Marineris have found evidence to suggest that liquid water may have filled the canyon.
The Mars Express mission detected signs of water-bearing sulfate minerals in the Ius Chasma and Tithonium Chasma areas. ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), part of the ExoMars mission, detected water ice beneath the surface of Candor Chaos, which lies near the center of the massive canyon system.
(Web)
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