Mars Travel: Valles Marineris

Showing posts with label Valles Marineris. Show all posts

Mars Photo of the Day - 2 Jul 2012

Imagine being able to hike on Mars! How would you plan such a trip? Where would you go? Would you climb mountains, or explore ancient riverbeds? What marvels of Mars would you encounter? One thing's for sure, you'd probably carry a map!

But just what would a typical hiking map of an area on Mars look like? Let's look at an area where all sorts of terrain comes together, from mountains to canyons to great expanses of plains! In the map below we see Chryse Planitia, Meridiani Planum, Ares Valles, Iani Chaos, Margaritfer Terra, and Valles Marineris, all distinctly different types of terrain, but interconnected.

We also see a future tourist destination: the 1997 landing site of Mars Pathfinder! Sites where the first rovers touched down may one day become extremely popular locations for tourists wishing to see a part of history and marvel at how far we've come! I look forward for the day when I can wait in line to see the great robotic explorers of my childhood!

Click on this image to see the original high resolution map from Mars Express.

Source: Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera

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Mars Photo of the Day - Apr 30 2012

Today's Image of Mars shows some of the thickest fine-grained layered deposits on The Red Planet. These layers are in West Candor Chasma, which is located in central Valles Marineris. Scientists have been able to determine that the layers are fine-grained because the wind picks up small particles and carries them through the air, which HiRISE is able to detect.

But what deposited these layers? One explanation is that wind, volcanic ash, or water, or a combination thereof deposited the layers, which were then altered by ground water. When alter by the ground water the minerals became hydrated and formed clays and sulfates. Water was abundant in Hellas Basin during different periods, so it is possible that this multitude of water could be responsible for the extremely thick layers, since the more water there was, the larger the layers.

Click on the image below to see the original image from HiRISE. [See the HiRISE caption]

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Mars Photo of the Day - Apr 29 2012

Today's Image of Mars comes from HiRISE and shows folded layered deposits in Melas Chasma, which is located in central Valles Marineris. That's right, there are huge layers of rock that have been folded over on one another! The question is, how did they get that way?

We can use the knowledge gained from examination of similar features on Earth to make educated judgements about their creation on Mars. On earth huge rocks will fold when they become deeply buried and are exposed to high pressure and temperatures, but on Mars this is unlikely the case because it doesn't experience as much vertical shift as Earth does.

There is a more plausible explanation for these folded features on Mars, and that is water. Water could have caused the material near the surface to be become soft and malleable, making it easier to fold and bend, even under the slightest pressure.

Click on this image to see the original high resolution image from HiRISE. [See their caption for the image]

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Mars Photo of the Day - Apr 26 2012

Today's Image of Mars shows a relatively young crater measuring 50km in diameter. The crater has a significantly less superimposed craters than the surrounding terrain, which is how scientists determined it was a relatively recent addition to the landscape. Scientists speculate that many of the landslides we see in Valles Marineris may have occurred as a result of the impact that formed this crater, but we can never be sure.

Clicking on this image will take you to the original high resolution image from HiRISE. [See the original caption from HiRISE]

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Mars Photo of the Day - Feb 18 2012

Today's Image of Mars shows Echus Chasma, which was once one of the largest sources of water on Mars, spanning 100km long and 10km wide and cutting into Lunae Planum north of Valles Marineris. Echus Chasma was the source of water that carved Kasei Valles, a 1780 km (1100 mi) long set of flood carved channels on Mars.

Clicking on this image will take you to the original high resolution from the ESA's Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). [See their extensive information on the image and others like it]

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Mars Photo of the Day - Feb 2 2012

Today's Image of Mars was taken on Jan 14 2004 and was one of the first returned from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. The image shows a stretch of Valles Marineris, considered to be the Grand Canyon of Mars.

The raised surfaces seen in this image are likely inverted riverbeds formed when the sediment deposited by rivers is harder than the surrounding terrain. Over billions of years erosion wore down the surrounding terrain, but because the riverbeds were more resistant to erosion they were reduced much less, thus creating the inverted features you see in the image below.

Clicking on this image will take you to the original high resolution image from Mars Express. [See the ESA article on this image]

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Mars Photo of the Day - Jan 2 2012

Today's Image of Mars shows part of the boundary between Melas Chasma (on the left) and the surrounding terrain. Melas Chasma is part of the Valles Marineris rift valley, which spans more than 4000km across the surface of Mars.

Melas Chasma sinks 9km below the surface of the surrounding terrain, giving it the distinction of being one of the lowest depressions on Mars. This image only covers 20,000 sq km, which the ESA mentions is about the size of Slovenia.

This image helps scientists see different layered deposits along the boundary wall, which gives them insight into the conditions on Mars in the distant past when the deposits were made. This is most helpful for the area surrounding Melas Chasma because there is abundant evidence that the Valles Marineris region was once had an abundance of flowing water, as evidenced by water cut channels and lighter-colored sulfates likely deposited by a former lake.

This image was taken by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on July 1 2006. Clicking on the image will take you to the hi-res version from the ESA. [See the original article from the ESA on Melas Chasma]

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Mars Photo of the Day - Dec 15 2011

Today's Image of Mars is of faults in Ius Chasma, one of many deep depressions in Valles Marineris, the solar system's largest known canyon. Ius Chasma is about 900km long and 8-10km deep. The chasma is divided by an east-west ridge called Geryon Montes.

The floor of Ius Chasma is comprised of layered deposits, but due to excessive faulting the deposits have become jumbled. The dark spots you see in this image are the result of ejecta from impacts. They have exposed a layer underlying the lighter surface area. Scientists speculate that the darker layer being exposed is basalt.

If you look closely you can also see many linear dunes, which are prominent all throughout Ius Chasma. These dunes have a north-south orientation, which is indicative of prevailing westerly winds through the canyon.

Clicking on this image will take you to the original captioned image from HiRISE.

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If you like the HiRISE images showcased in the Mars Photo of the Day posts I encourage you to enter for a free 2012 HiRISE Calendar

Mars Photo of the Day - Dec 13 2011

Today's Image of Mars is of Hebes Chasma, an enclosed trough located in the most northern part of Valles Marineris that measures nearly 8000m deep. In the center of Hebes Chasma is an 8000m high mesa (flat topped mountain) with many layered deposits. It almost rises to the same height as the terrain surrounding Hebes Chasma.

Measurements from the OMEGA spectrometer on Mars Express have shown water bearing minerals, like gypsum, in Hebes Chasma, evidence that there was once an abundance of water in the trough.

It is thought that Hebes Chasma formed because of enormous stress in the Martian crust, which resulted in a number of radial faults. This stress was likely caused by crustal uplift from the development of many volcanoes in the nearby Tharsis region.

You really need to click on this image so you can see the high resolution image from the ESA. [See their article on this image and others like it]

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Mars Photo of the Day - Nov 16 2011

Today's Image of Mars is of Coprates Cantena, located in the Southern part of the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars. Coprates Cantena is a chain of collapsed structures running parallel to the main valley, Coprates Chasma. It is not as deep as the main canyon, but you can still see layered deposits on the walls of the pits.

This image was taken on May 25 2004 by Mars Express Orbiter. Clicking on the image will take you to the original, full-screen, high resolution image from the ESA.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 23 2011

Today's Image of Mars is a mosaic showing South Candor Chasma. Candor Chasma is one of the largest canyons in the Valles Marineris canyon system.

This mosaic was created from images taken by both Viking orbiters. Clicking on the image will take you to the full-page image from NASA.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 21 2011

Today's Image of Mars is of the boundary between Candor Chasma and Ophir Chasma, both of which are located in the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars. The Valles Marineris is the largest canyon system in the solar system and would span almost the entire United States from East Coast to West.

Candor Chasma is one of the largest canyons in the Valles Marineris canyon system and it borders Ophir Chasma to the south. The photo below shows a small stretch of the border between Candor and Ophiir Chasma.

This image was taken by HiRISE, but they have not captioned it as of this posting, so clicking on the image will take you to all posts labeled with Valles Marineris.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 12 2011

Today's Image of Mars gives us a glimpse of a possible source for the outflow channels that have so drastically shaped the surface of Mars. The large depression in the ground is likely where millions of tons of ground water erupted onto the surface of Mars. This generally occurs due to a rupture of the surface, usually the result of a meteorite impact or past tectonic activity on the planet.

This particular scarp is located in Aurorae Chaos, which is 750 km in diameter and located at the eastern end of Valles Marineris. Aurorae Chaos is the largest discovered area on Mars of chaos terrain, or terrain where cracks, ridges, and plains appear jumbled together in a random and chaotic manner.

This image links to the original captioned image from HiRISE.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 3 2011

Today's Image of Mars is of the floor of the trough Tithonium Chasma, located in Valles Marineris, a large canyon system on Mars. As discussed in yesterday's Mars Photo of the Day, scientists are interested in these canyon systems because they provide a view of older material beneath the surface, which can provide insight into the past climate of Mars and changes that occurred.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's CRISM has determined that sulfates and iron oxides are present in the general region in the form of layered deposits. This implies the past existence of water because sulfates are typically formed in the presence of water.

This photo links to the original captioned photo by HiRISE.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Aug 24 2011

Today's Mars Photo is of Ophir Chasma, the northern most connected valleys of Valles Marineris, a huge canyon system that is 5,000 km (~3106 mi) long. Ophir Chasma is about 100 km (62 mi) wide and 317 km (197 mi) long and bordered by high-walled cliffs, which are thought to be faults. For more details on the image and to view the original, just click the image.

Taken by Viking 1 Orbiter
Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS

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