Page 39 - (DK) Eyewitness - Mars

NOCTIS LABYRINTHUS THE NORTHERN CHASMAS
This intersecting web of The Ophir Chasma is above the central
canyons is near the Valles Marineris. The chasm’s scallop-
highest part of the cut edges look down at landslides on
Tharsis uplift. More than the canyon floor. Quakes and wind
600 miles (965 km) may have joined with flooding to
across, the labyrinth links gouge out the canyon system,
with Ius Chasma and the which cuts deep into the
main canyon system. This Tharsis volcanic region.
is an artist’s rendering,
looking eastward, over
Valles Marineris.

A SPACE-VIEW
OF CANYONS
Seen from an
altitude of 1,500
miles (2,400 km),
Valles Marineris is a
jagged scar across the
face of Mars. Channels
lead to and from the low-
lying northern Acidalia
Planitia. Water may once
have flowed through these
channels and the canyons.
The Tharsis volcanoes are at
left, west of Noctis Labyrinthus.

IUS AND MELAS CHASMAS
This artist’s image looks eastward from
the southern edge of Ius Chasma
(foreground) towards Melas Chasma.
At far left are (l–r) Ophir, Candor, and
Melas Chasmas. Melas has been
considered as a possible alternative
landing site for a Mars rover mission.

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