Marte Vallis

Marte Vallis

Streamlined Island in Marte Vallis, as seen by HiRISE. The enlarged image gives a good view of dark slope streaks. Island is just to the west of Pettit Crater. Scale bar is 500 meters long.

Marte Vallis is a valley in the Amazonis quadrangle of Mars, located at 15 North and 176.5 West. It is 185 km long and was named for the Spanish word for "Mars".[2] It has been identified as an outflow channel, carved in the geological past by catastrophic release of water from aquifers beneath the Martian surface.[3]

Marte Vallis is the site of the first discovery of columnar jointing on Mars. [1]

References

  1. ^ a b Milazzo, M.P., Keszthelyi, L.P., Jaeger, W.L. Rosiek, M., Mattson, S., Verba, C., Beyer, R.A., Geissler, P.E., McEwen, A.S., and the HiRISE Team. (2009) Discovery of columnar jointing on Mars. Geology. 37(2), 171–174. Abstract
  2. ^ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/
  3. ^ Carr, M.H. (2006), The Surface of Mars. Cambridge Planetary Science Series, Cambridge University Press.