Landslides are scary.
When landslide events make news, it is mostly because of their – usually devastating – impact on people’s lives.
On land, they are most common in hilly and mountainous areas at higher elevations. Internet submerged in water With videos showing entire sections of the hill sliding down, carrying millions of tons of soil and destroying everything beneath.
Therefore, it could be forgiven to think that landslides only occur on land. but Picture taken by European Space Agency‘S EXO March Probes tell a different story.
The story of a landslide on Mars!
The photos, posted on the agency’s Instagram, captured the five-kilometer-long landslide – a gigantic size compared to a landslide on the ground.
According to the European Space Agency, the image was taken on April 13 in the Aeolis region of Mars on the rim of a crater about 35 kilometers wide.
Although the surface of Mars appears mostly flat, the planet actually contains the highest mountain in the solar system – Olympus Mons.
Apart from the odd Martian sandstorms, the surface of the Red Planet is constantly changing.
“A landslide is a geomorphological process that occurs under certain environmental conditions. On Mars as on Earth, they come in all shapes and sizes, and their counterparts on Earth are used to understand similar processes occurring in planetary bodies,” the agency explained in its statement.
The images were taken as part of various Exo-Mars Orbiter missions. The probe was launched in 2016, and, according to the European Space Agency, “delivered stunning images, providing an inventory of the planet’s atmospheric gases.” Part of the orbiter’s mission also includes mapping the planet’s surface for water-rich locations.
Cover photo: ESA / Instagram
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