Margaritifer Sinus Quadrangle - Vallis

Vallis (plural valles) is the Latin word for valley. It is used in planetary geology for the naming of valley landform features on other planets.

Vallis was used for old river valleys that were discovered on Mars, when probes were first sent to Mars. The Viking Orbiters caused a revolution in our ideas about water on Mars; huge river valleys were found in many areas. Space craft cameras showed that floods of water broke through dams, carved deep valleys, eroded grooves into bedrock, and traveled thousands of kilometers.

• Parana Valles, as seen by HiRISE. Scale bar is 1000 meters long.

• Ladon Valles, as seen by HiRISE. Click on image to see dark and light-toned layers.

• Ravi Vallis, as seen by Viking Orbiter. Ravi Vallis was probably formed when catastrophic floods came out of the ground to the right (chaotic terrain). Image located in Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle.

• Tear-drop shaped islands caused by flood waters from Maja Vallis, as seen by Viking Orbiter. Image is located in Oxia Palus quadrangle.

• The long channel Nirgal Vallis is showed where it connects to Uzboi Vallis. The crater Luki is 21 km in diameter. Picture taken by THEMIS.

• Nirgal Vallis, as seen by THEMIS.

• Nirgal Vallis Close-up, as seen by THEMIS