Valles Marineris Archives

Valles Marineris, (Latin for Mariner Valleys, named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971–72 which discovered it) is a system of canyons that runs along the Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than 4,000 km (2,500 mi) long, 200 km (120 mi) wide and up to 7 km (23,000 ft) deep, Valles Marineris is one of the largest canyons of the Solar System, surpassed in length only by the rift valleys of Earth.

Zhurong
Xanthe Terra
Water
Valles Marineris
Utopia Planitia
Ulysses Patera
Tharsis Plateau
Terra Sirenum
Terra Cimmeria
Terby

A Flow near Huo Hsing Vallis

Dunes and ridges

Deposits along the Northern Wall of Melas Chasma

It has been known since the 1970s when the Viking orbiters took pictures of Mars that there are large (i.e., several kilometers-thick) mounds of light-toned deposits within the central portion of Valles Marineris.

January 8, 2022