This is an image of the surface of Mars.
Click on image for full size
NASA
Planet Structure
The uniquely red global surface of Mars is marked by many interesting
features - some like those on the Earth and others
strangely different. The reddish color is caused by rust
(iron oxide) in the soil.
Some of these features are; volcanoes, canyon systems, river beds, cratered
terrain, and dune fields.
Of these features, the most interesting include the
dead volcano named Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris. Olympus Mons rises very high
above the surrounding plains and is the highest known mountain in the
Solar System. Valles Marineris is a giant canyon that is about the size of the United States!
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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
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The largest volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons, shown in the image to the left. Olympus Mons is three times as high as the largest mountain on Earth, Mt. Everest, and is as wide as the entire
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Next to the Tharsis Ridge is Valles Marineris, a very long canyon of Mars. As can be seen in the image, many huge ancient rivers extend toward the top of the image. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red
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This image shows how cold the surface of Mars can be. The temperature of the surface was measured by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The scale to the left shows that purple regions are the coldest,
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Unlike the rocks of Earth, where there are many things which cause erosion, the rocks of Mars erode because of only two things: wind and acid fog. Acid fog is very important, but because there is not a
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Separate from the Martian outflow channels, or the river valleys, are large Martian lakes (600 km, or ~1000 miles across) which once were part of a flood.
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