The channels featured in this image are located in Arabia Terra. These channels were carved long ago, when water flowing down from the broad, elevated landforms to the north travelled southward across the land surface, eventually eroding the underlying rock and sediment as it approached the northern wall of Mamers Valles.

Water flowed into the low-lying Mamers Valles through subsurface rock layers, forming the rounded alcoves in the southern part of this observation. Subsequent glacial activity may have further enlarged these alcoves and deposited the ice-rich sediment visible on the floor of Mamers Valles.

Written by: Ginny Gulick  (17 July 2023)


This is a stereo pair with ESP_079413_2185.