Valles Marineris, from U.S. Geological Survey Mars Digital Image Mosaic, reproduced at a scale of 230 meters/pixel.
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Image from: Malin Space Science Systems

More about Valles Marineris

This image shows the steep slopes of Valles Marineris at higher resolution. Very high resolution images returned by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft allow closer examination of this unusual canyon. These images show slopes descending steeply to the north and south

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Valles Marineris

Valles Marineris is a large system of canyons, shown in this image, that stretches 4000 km (2500 mi) along the equator of Mars. It was first imaged in detail by Mariner 9. The scene to the left (centered...more

Martian Volcanoes

On this map of Mars, the lightly cratered Tharsis Ridge is shown, as well as the heavily cratered Martian highlands (near the bottom of the picture), and Valles Marineris to the right. The volcanoes are...more

The Transfer of Water in Martian History

The unusual global geography of Mars helps to explain the fact that water has been drawn from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere of the planet through all of Martian history (that is, from...more

The Martian Cryosphere

The Martian geography is one of high altitudes at high southern latitudes and low altitudes at low latitudes. The ground is less frozen at low latitudes because it is warmer and water can evaporate. Thus,...more

Martian Floods

Separate from the Martian outflow channels, or the river valley networks, are large Martian lakes (600 km, or ~1000 miles across) which exhibit evidence of a periodic and catastrophic release of water...more

Martian Fog

This is an image of fog in a Martian canyon. The presence of fog provides evidence of water, and a water cycle on Mars. More fog has been seen in images returned by Mars Global Surveyor of the south polar...more

Martian Orbital Eccentricity

The Martian climate is more influenced by the shape of the Martian orbit than the climate of the Earth is influenced by the shape of the Earth's orbit. The orbit of Mars is more elliptical than that of...more

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