|
Collection:
|
|
NASA Mars Collecton
Collection
NASA Mars Collecton
Collection
|
|
title:
|
|
Nirgal Vallis
title
Nirgal Vallis
title
|
|
Description:
|
|
This THEMIS image shows a sinuous valley network channel with sharp bends cutting across the cratered highlands of the southern hemisphere of Mars. The channel is named Nirgal Vallis, which is from the Babylonian word for "Mars". Nirgal Vallis is a channe l with a total length of approximately 500 km. It is approximately 6 km wide in this region. Gullies and alluvial deposits discovered by Mars Global Surveyor are clearly visible on the polar-facing (south) wall and floor of Nirgal Vallis. These gullies a ppear to emanate from a specific layer in the walls. There is a pronounced sparsity of gullies on the equator-ward facing slopes. The gullies have been proposed to have formed by the subsurface release of water. Patches of dunes are also seen on the chann el floor, notably along the edges of the channel floor near the canyon walls. There is still debate within the scientific community as to how valley networks themselves form: surface runoff (rainfall/snowmelt) or headward erosion via groundwater sapping. This image is approximately 22 km wide and 60 km in length; north is toward the top.
Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
Description
This THEMIS image shows a sinuous valley network channel with sharp bends cutting across the cratered highlands of the southern hemisphere of Mars. The channel is named Nirgal Vallis, which is from the Babylonian word for "Mars". Nirgal Vallis is a channe l with a total length of approximately 500 km. It is approximately 6 km wide in this region. Gullies and alluvial deposits discovered by Mars Global Surveyor are clearly visible on the polar-facing (south) wall and floor of Nirgal Vallis. These gullies a ppear to emanate from a specific layer in the walls. There is a pronounced sparsity of gullies on the equator-ward facing slopes. The gullies have been proposed to have formed by the subsurface release of water. Patches of dunes are also seen on the chann el floor, notably along the edges of the channel floor near the canyon walls. There is still debate within the scientific community as to how valley networks themselves form: surface runoff (rainfall/snowmelt) or headward erosion via groundwater sapping. This image is approximately 22 km wide and 60 km in length; north is toward the top.
Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
Description
|
|
section:
|
|
Martian Terrain
section
Martian Terrain
section
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Mars
facet_what
Mars
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Surveyor
facet_what
Surveyor
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Polar
facet_what
Polar
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Vallis
facet_what
Vallis
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter (MGS)
facet_what
Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter (MGS)
facet_what
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Mars
facet_where
Mars
facet_where
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Arizona
facet_where
Arizona
facet_where
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
|
|
UID:
|
|
SPD-MARS-gallery/mar tianterrain/PIA03756 .html
UID
SPD-MARS-gallery/mar tianterrain/PIA03756 .html
UID
|
|
original url:
|
original_url
original url
|
