Science and Exploration

A Fresh, Shallow Valley in Northern Arabia Terra, Mars

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
August 21, 2022
Filed under ,
A Fresh, Shallow Valley in Northern Arabia Terra, Mars
Northern Arabia Terra

This relatively fresh, shallowly incised valley was once filled with water and/or ice and flowed to the west toward a large, local depression in northern Arabia Terra.

This type of valley is younger and distinct in appearance relative to the ancient valley networks that formed in the Martian highlands. Most fresh, shallow valleys like this one often appear as scattered and isolated or sparsely branched networks of individual valleys in the mid-latitudes and equatorial regions of Mars. The floor of the channel within this broader valley is covered with light-toned transverse aeolian ridges (3 kilometers across).

ID: ESP_039997_2170
date: 7 February 2015
altitude: 296 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_039997_2170NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.