La última imagen publicada por Mars Express de la ESA nos muestra dos rupturas en la corteza marciana que forman parte del poderoso sistema de cañones Valles Marineris.

Valles Marineris atraviesa Marte como el Gran Cañón atraviesa los Estados Unidos, excepto que este último es minúsculo en comparación. Con 4000 km de largo, 200 km de ancho y hasta 7 km de profundidad, Valles Marineris es casi diez veces más largo, 20 veces más ancho y cinco veces más profundo que el Gran Cañón. Como el sistema de cañones más grande del Sistema Solar, abarcaría la distancia desde el extremo norte de Noruega hasta el extremo sur de Sicilia.

Hay otra gran diferencia entre los dos:mientras que el Gran Cañón se formó cuando el río Colorado erosionó la roca, se cree que Valles Marineris se formó a través de la separación de las placas tectónicas.

La imagen muestra dos trincheras (o chasmas) que forman parte del Valles Marineris occidental. A la izquierda (sur), está el Ius Chasma de 840 km de largo, y a la derecha (norte) está el Tithonium Chasma de 805 km de largo. Si bien estas imágenes de alta resolución muestran un increíble detalle de la superficie, solo cuando miramos un mapa de elevación nos damos cuenta de cuán espectacularmente profundos son los chasmata:¡hasta 7 km! A 4809 m, la montaña más alta de los Alpes, el Mont Blanc, quedaría empequeñecida si se colocara dentro de Tithonium Chasma.

En la parte superior de Tithonium Chasma, un parche de arena oscura aporta contraste de color a la imagen. This sand may have come from the nearby Tharsis volcanic region.

Next to the dark sand dunes are two light-toned mounds (one cut in half by the upper image border). These "mounds" are more like mountains, rising more than 3000 meters in height. Their surfaces have been strongly eroded by Mars' strong winds, indicating that they are made of a weaker material than the surrounding rock.

Between the two mounds we see a series of smaller bumps, as shown in the second perspective view. Investigations by Mars Express have found water-bearing sulfate minerals in this region. This suggests that these bumps may have formed when liquid that once filled the chasma evaporated, although this theory is still hotly debated.

To the lower right of the mound that we see fully (upper right in the second perspective view), we can see parallel lines and debris piles that indicate a recent landslide. This is also visible as a large purple area in the topography image below. The landslide was caused by the collapse of the canyon wall on the right, and is likely to have occurred relatively recently because it has not been strongly eroded.

The gnarly floor of Ius Chasma is equally fascinating. As tectonic plates pulled apart, they appear to have caused jagged triangles of rock to form that look like a row of shark teeth. Over time, these rock formations have collapsed and eroded.

Exploring Mars

Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2003, imaging Mars' surface, mapping its minerals, identifying the composition and circulation of its tenuous atmosphere, probing beneath its crust, and exploring how various phenomena interact in the Martian environment.

The mission's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), responsible for these new images, has revealed much about Mars' diverse surface features, with recent images showing everything from wind-sculpted ridges and grooves through impact craters and channels that once carried liquid water to volcanoes, tectonic faults, river channels and ancient lava pools. + Explora más

Image:Layers and fractures in Ophir Chasma, Mars