Valles Marineris

The Valles Marineris (Latin for Mariner Valleys ) is a spacious grave fault system on Mars, which extend along the equator in the eastern part of the volcanic Tharsis region. With a length of 4000 km, a width of up to 700 km and a depth of up to 7 km Valles Marineris are one of the largest grave fault systems in the solar system; they are surpassed only by the grave fault systems of the earth and ( in length) of Baltis Vallis on Venus.

The Valles Marineris were named in honor of the probe Mariner 9, on the photographic images they were discovered. Maybe the region has already by Giovanni Schiaparelli (1877 ) or others observed and mapped as " Mars Canal ".

Description

The grave system extends from its outlets Noctis Labyrinthus on the Tharsis bulge in the west to the " chaotic terrain " of Eos Chasma and Capri Chasma to the east. The Valles Marineris consist of several interconnected with Chasmata or grave fractures, each of which the Grand Canyon ( Arizona) outperforms many times.

Valles Marineris begins east of Noctis Labyrinthus (7 ° 0 ' S, 96 ° 0' WMars -7 -96) by branches into two parallel Chasmata. The northern, about 800 km in the east-west trending Tithonian Chasma (4 ° 36 ' S, 84 ° 17' WMars - 4.6 - 84.29 ) and the southern, about 840 km in the east-west trending Ius Chasma (7 ° 17 ' S, 84 ° 23' WMars - 7:29 - 84.39 ). East of Ius Chasma, the 560 kms to the southeast includes Melas Chasma extending (10 ° 31 ' S, 72 ° 32' WMars - 10:52 - 72.54 ) to. This goes to the northerly, about 810 km south-easterly direction running Candor Chasma (6 ° 32 ' S, 70 ° 47' WMars - 6:53 - 70.78 ) and turn in the north followed, about 315 km wide, semicircular Ophir Chasm ( 4 ° 0 ' S, 72 ° 21' WMars -4- 72.35 ). Southeast of Melas Chasma is followed by about 960 km south-easterly direction running Coprates Chasma (13 ° 22 ' S, 60 ° 44' WMars - 13:37 - 60.74 ). This goes running in the approximately 1306 km to the northeast Eos Chasma (12 ° 9 ' S, 39 ° 10' WMars - 12:15 - 39.17 ). North is approximately 574 km in east-west direction extending Ganges Chasma (7 ° 58 ' S, 47 ° 53' WMars - 7.96 - 47.89 ) and east of it of about 1470 km in a northeasterly direction extending Capri Chasma (8 ° 16 ' S, 42 ° 4' WMars - 8:27 - 42.07 ).

Development

Over time there have been many different theories about the Valles Marineris formations like. Before strong telescopes or the Viking probes allowed more accurate observations, conjectured, inter alia, built by hypothetical Martians channels to irrigate their planet. This speculation was fueled by discoveries such as Schiaparelli's " Canali " (Mars channels ) or other linear representations. In addition, the term " Canali " misled (Italian for channels ) at the wrong translation channel (or engl. Channel or canal ).

In the 1970s, it was assumed, inter alia, strong erosion by water that was released from the permafrost. However, liquid water on Mars is extremely unlikely, as the temperature exceeds on Mars even at the equator rarely 0 ° C and the Mars has a very thin atmosphere (only 0.75% of Erdatmosphärendrucks ). 1972 McCauley developed the hypothesis that the grave system could be caused by sinking magma below the surface. 1989 published Tanaka and Golombek, a theory on the origin of fracturing tension. Nick Hoffman suspected 2000 and following that Mars was influenced in his early years by water, but by carbon dioxide, which is why he ( German: "White Mars" ) the term "White Mars" used for this purpose. Hoffman postulated " kryoklastische flows", a mixture of gaseous and solid carbon dioxide, water ice and rock, which, for example, Valles Marineris that have formed. Another theory postulates the emergence of large dikes ( On Earth, the plate-like, often far-reaching body of rock from igneous rock, fill the larger gaps and cut the surrounding rock or thwart ). Magma rises in the Martian crust by columns, while the ice melts in the soil and thus produces large, fast-flowing water masses.

The most widely accepted hypothesis is currently (2005) is that the grave system is caused by cracks in the crust and was greatly expanded by erosion and collapse. This is due to the development of the Tharsis region.

Landslides were deposited at the bottom of Valles Marineris rock and widened her like this. Possible triggers of landslides are earthquakes caused by tectonic activity, or impact events. It was observed that the case has slid down the rock is shaped by the wind and forms as dune fields.