Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Violent Martian Waters Carved Secret Trench

Violent Martian Waters Carved Secret Trench:
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed about 1,000 km of underground channels, called Marte Vallis, shown at center in this map. The rendering of Mars is in false color to highlight elevation differences. Credit: NASA/MOLA Team/Smithsonian Institute
Violent Martian Waters Carved Secret Trench
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed about 1,000 km of underground channels, called Marte Vallis, shown at center in this map. The rendering of Mars is in false color to highlight elevation differences. Credit: NASA/MOLA Team/Smithsonian Institute
Massive floodwaters on Mars gouged a channel more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) long, making a trench that was hidden to scientists until now because volcanic flows buried it underground.
Erupting groundwater, perhaps triggered by a volcano or an earthquake, forced water across the surface during the past 500 million years. This carved a trench about 62 miles (100 kilometers) wide; it would take runners more than two marathons (at 26 miles each) to cross the expanse.
Later, as volcanoes erupted in Mars’ Elysium Planitia plain, lava flows covered the channel. The trench, now called Marte Vallis, finally came to light from radar measurements by an orbiting spacecraft. The results were published in the journal Science Thursday.
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© Elizabeth Howell for Universe Today, 2013. |
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