'Grand Canyon on Mars': ESA clicks Martian feature that's bigger than the original thing

Edited By: Manas Joshi
New Delhi Updated: Jul 26, 2022,

(Image: ESA) Valles Marineris, the 'grand canyon on Mars'.

We may have not found proof of life on Mars yet, but the red planet is full of interesting geological features

We Earth-dwellers have Earth-centric idea of the Universe and that's probably fine. From sunrise to sunset (and beyond), we eat, drink, work and sleep on one single planet. Human colonies on Moon and Mars are still in the concept stage. Till then, its one blue planet for us.

Due to our Earth-centric thoughts, its hard to imagine that the largest canyon in the Solar System is not on Earth. Sorry Grand Canyon but a canyon system on Mars takes the cake here. And European Space Agency has clicked a picture of it.

Valles Marineris, the canyon system on Mars, is longer, wider and deepr than Grand Canyon. It is 4000 kilometres long, 200 kilometre wide and upto 7 km deep. These dimensions are much greater than the Grand Canyon. To put things in Indian perspective, the length of Valles Marineris is greater than the distance between Kashmir to Kanyakumari.



Image of the Valles Marineris has been captured by ESA's Mars Express. The image shows two trenches, called Chasma in the western region of Valles Marineris. Left portion of the image is southern direction. 840-kilometre-long lus Chasma is visible there and 805-kilometre-long Tithonium Chasma is visible in the right side of the image. Incredible surface details are present in this high resolution image that captures Valles Marineris that is up to 7 kilometres deep.

The blackened portion in the Tithonium Chasma is black sand. Scientists think that the sand must have come from Tharsis volcanic region.

See the Solar System’s Biggest Canyon Up Close: Mesmerizing Mars Photos

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A view of the Tithonium Chasmata generated from imagery taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the ESA Mars Express. Photo: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Recently released images from the European Space Agency (ESA) furnish an awe-inspiring new perspective of Mars.

The photos combine digital terrain models and color channels from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board the ESA’s Mars Express Spacecraft. The razor-sharp, breathtaking images focus on two trenches, the lus and Tithonium Chasmata (in this context, trenches are also called chasma).

The two chasma form a part of the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars. And together, they’re the biggest canyon in the solar system.

Photo: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Looking at the lus and Tithonium Chasmata without something for scale can be deceiving. The sizes at play are actually titanic. The Valles Marineris is the largest canyon in our solar system at 4,000km long, 200km wide, and 7km deep in places. That’s deep enough to swallow the biggest mountain in the Alps and larger than the Grand Canyon by many orders of magnitude.

In fact, it contends with the United States itself in some dimensions.

Image: NASA

 

The ESA has some analysis of the images on its website. The photos include evidence of tectonic plate activity, erosion, landslides, and volcanic sand.

A color-coded topographic map of the lus and Tithonium Chasmata. Photo: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

 

A history of discovery

This isn’t the first time that the Mars Express has delivered the goods. In 2018, the spacecraft famously discovered evidence of liquid water hidden underneath the Martian polar ice caps. The Mars Express has been orbiting Mars since 2003.