Aureum Chaos

Aureum Chaos is a rough, collapsed region in the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) portion of the planet Mars at approximately 4.4° south latitude and 27° west longitude. It is 368 km across and was named after a classical albedo feature name. The classic name came from one of the first maps of Mars drawn by Schiaparelli who has been called the "Father of Mars." He called a feature "Aurea Cherso, which translates to the golden peninsula—an ancient name for Malaya. Aureum is the Latin word for gold. In chemistry, the symbol for gold is Au from gold's Latin name.

In many places, the canyons of Aureum Chaos are about 1 km deep—a little more than half the depth of the Grand Canyon. But, Aureum Chaos covers an area about the size of the state of Alabama, almost 20 times larger than the Grand Canyon National Park.

Read more about Aureum Chaos:  Description, See Also

Famous quotes containing the word chaos:

    She comes! She comes! The sable throne behold
    Of Night primaeval, and of Chaos old!
    Alexander Pope (1688–1744)