The “Night Labyrinth” (Noctis Labyrinthus) on the surface of Mars spans 740 miles and is located on the western edge of “Canyon Mariner”. (ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
[The Epoch Times, November 06, 2023](Compiled and reported by Epoch Times reporter Xue Zhimo)European Space AgencyA stunning new video released in October reveals the 2,500-mile-long Valles Marineris on Mars. This canyon on Mars is similar to the Grand Canyon on Earth, but its scale is far larger than the Grand Canyon.
The video shows the “Noctis Labyrinthus” (Noctis Labyrinthus) in the Canyon Mariners. The labyrinth itself spans 740 miles and is located on the western edge of the Canyon Mariners.
The steep valley is flanked by some of the tallest volcanoes in the solar system, and scientists believe it was the action of these volcanoes that formed the vast canyon and caused the Earth’s crust to extend upward and create giant canyon fissures billions of years ago.
The video was not shot from a plane flying over the surface of Mars. The video uses detailed images of the area taken by ESA’s Mars Express orbiting satellite, combined with existing terrain data to create a three-dimensional representation.
The scale of the “Maze of Night” is unimaginable on Earth. Some canyons within it are up to 18.6 miles wide and an astonishing 3.7 miles deep. By comparison, the entire span of the Grand Canyon on Earth is only 18 miles, and its deepest point is no more than 1.1 miles, or 6,000 feet.
Massive landslide events have collapsed some canyon walls, sending large amounts of sand to the valley’s lowest points. One of the landslides, observed by NASA’s Viking spacecraft, spanned 25 miles of the valley floor.
High winds also created large stretches of sand dunes elsewhere.
There are still many unknown places about the huge “Canyon Mariner” on Mars. The Grand Canyon on Earth was formed by the erosion of the Colorado River, while the “Canyon Mariner” on Mars was mainly caused by tectonic fractures in the planet’s crust. However, scientists believe water may still have played a role in changing the landscape of Canyon de Mariners billions of years ago. ◇#
Editor in charge: Li Qiong
