Valles Marineris

Valles Marineris
/val"euhs mar'euh nair"is/, Astron.
a canyon on Mars, 3100 mi. (5000 km) in length, named after the Mariner spacecraft.

* * *

 vast system of interconnected canyons on the planet Mars. The system was discovered during, and named for, the Mariner 9 mission in 1971. The canyons extend in an east-west direction for roughly 4,000 km (2,500 miles) just south of the equator between about 30° and 90° W. Individual canyons are typically 200 km (125 miles) across and have walls 2–5 km (1.2–3.1 miles) high. At the centre of the system, several canyons merge to form a depression 600 km (375 miles) across and 9 km (5.6 miles) deep. Some of the canyon walls appear to be fault scarps that formed as a result of crustal movement along faults radiating from the Tharsis rise, an enormous volcanic bulge to the northwest. Erosion, however, has also played a significant role in canyon formation, as indicated by deep gullies cut in the walls. In places, the canyons contain thick sedimentary sequences that may have been deposited in lakes that formerly occupied the canyons. These lakes later may have drained catastrophically to the east, where there is evidence of large floods.

Michael H. Carr
 

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Valles Marineris — cuts a wide gash across the face of Mars Coordinates …   Wikipedia

  • Valles Marineris — avec, au sud, le bloc formé par les plateaux de Syria, Solis et Thaumasia et, à l ouest, les trois volcans de Tharsis Montes …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Valles Marineris — sobre la superficie de Marte …   Wikipedia Español

  • Valles Marineris — Grabenbruchsystem auf Mars Valles Marineris Panoramaaufnahme der 4000 km langen Mariner Täler …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Valles Marineris — Долина Маринера (лат. Valles Marineris)  гигантская система каньонов на Марсе. Названа в честь американской космической программы «Маринер» после того, как аппарат Маринер 9 обнаружил каньоны в 1971 1972. Долина Маринера расположена к востоку от… …   Википедия

  • Valles Marineris — Vạlles Marineris   [v ; lateinisch], Komplex von Tälern auf dem Mars …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Valles Marineris — noun a large system of canyons on the surface of Mars; contains channels possibly caused by the flow of water …   Wiktionary

  • Valles Marineris — /val euhs mar euh nair is/, Astron. a canyon on Mars, 3100 mi. (5000 km) in length, named after the Mariner spacecraft …   Useful english dictionary

  • Valles marinensis — Valles Marineris Valles Marineris (nommée d après la sonde Mariner 9 sur une proposition du Dr William Pickering) est un vaste système de canyons longeant l équateur martien à l est de la région du dôme de Tharsis. Les connaissances actuelles en… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Vallis Marineris — Panoramaaufnahme der 4000 km langen Mariner Täler Topografische Karte der Region Die Valles Marineris (lateinisch für Mariner Tä …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”