HRSC Gallery

Video Copyright: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

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Iani Chaos and the upper reaches of Ares Vallis
 

This movie was produced using images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft. Its first part shows a simulated flight over the upper reaches of Ares Vallis, a large outflow channel on Mars, and parts of its source region, Iani Chaos.

Ares Vallis is one of the biggest drainage systems on Mars. From its source region in Iani Chaos near the equator, the valley winds northwest for about 1400 kilometres through the ancient Xanthe Terra highlands Eventually, it ends up in the northern lowland plains of Chryse Planitia.

The flanks of the deep canyon, rise up to 2000 meters from the valley floor. The morphology of the valley shows drainage patterns of many kinds: flow features along with isolated streamlined islands and terraces. Very likely, large amounts of water have flown here episodically during Mars’ past. Ares Vallis is thought to have formed billions of years ago.

Iani Chaos itself is a depression of approximately 200 kilometres by 180 kilometres in size. At its northern side the depression wall is eroded away to form the beginning of Ares Vallis.

Inside Iani Chaos, a chaotic distribution of individual blocks of rock and hills form a disrupted pattern. These ‘knobs’ are several hundred metres high. Scientists suggest that they are remnants of a pre-existing landscape that collapsed after possible cavities had formed beneath the surface. Ice stored in these cavities may have been molten by volcanic heat, and the water then discharged to the north – while the highland surface collapsed as a consequence.

The simulated flight from north to south is based on a digital-terrain model derived from the stereo channels of Mars Express HRSC. Three HRSC image strips, acquired from an altitude of approximately 280 kilometres altitude, have been matched into a mosaic to obtain a wide regional perspective. The original resolution is 12.5 metres per pixel.
 
 
Mountain Ranges in Central Valles Marineris
 
The second part of this movie shows a simulated flight over high altitude features in the central part of Valles Marineris.

The 'Valleys of Mariner' are named for the American Mariner 9 orbiter which first imaged this huge canyon system in 1971. From west to east, Valles Marineris stretches over 4000 kilometres along the Martian equator It is the biggest – and greatest – canyon in the Solar System: the valley floor reaches a depth of 11 kilometres. On average, other Martian valleys are seven kilometres deep.

Image data used for this movie of the central part of Valles Marineris are from two Mars Express orbits, on 24 April and 2 May 2004, respectively, acquired from an altitude of about 500 kilometres, resulting in image resolutions of approximately 25 metres per pixel.

Here the Valles Marineris complex has its largest North-South extension. Several sub-valleys are divided by high mountain ranges, running in parallel to the entire canyon system. The two valleys seen here are named Ophir Chasma and Candor Chasma, and are each about 200 kilometres wide. The area shown in the movie is about the size of the southern half of Germany.