Mangala Valles

Mangala Valles
Coordinates	11°36′S 151°00′W / 11.6°S 151.0°W / -11.6; -151.0Coordinates: 11°36′S 151°00′W / 11.6°S 151.0°W / -11.6; -151.0
Length	828.0
Naming	Word for "Mars" in Sanskrit.
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Mangala Valles is a complex system of criss-crossing channels on Mars, located in the Tharsis region originating in the Amazonian epoch. It is thought to be an outflow channel, carved by catastrophic and release of vast quantities of water across the Martian surface. This flooding was probably initiated by tectonic stretching and the formation of a graben at the channels' head, perhaps breaching a pressurized aquifer trapped beneath a thick "cryosphere" (layer of frozen ground) beneath the surface.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

There are many wind-sculpted ridges or yardangs covering many of the surfaces in the Mangala Vallis region.^[6][7]

"Mangala" comes from the word for Mars in Sanskrit.

The Mangala Valles is referred to in Michael Crichton's book Sphere. In Stephen Baxter's novel Voyage, it is the location of the first manned Mars landing.

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  Map of Memnonia quadrangle labeled with major features.

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  Managala Vallis with a streamlined island, as seen by THEMIS.

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  Mangala Valles, as seen by HiRISE.

References

1. ^ http://www.msss.com/http/ps/channels/channels.html
2. ^ Michael H. Carr (2006). The surface of Mars. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521872010. http://books.google.com/books?id=uLHlJ6sjohwC. Retrieved 21 March 2011. 
3. ^ Carr, M. 1979. Formation of martian flood features by release of water from confined aquifers. J. Geophys. Res. 84: 2995-3007.
4. ^ ISBN-13 978-0-521-87501-0
5. ^ Hanna, J. and R. Phillips. 2005. Tectonic pressurization of aquifers in the formation of Mangala and Athabasca Valles on Mars. LPSC XXXVI. Abstract 2261.
6. ^ Catalog Page for PIA03827
7. ^ The Planet Mars: A History of Observation and Discovery. Chapter 12: Mariner 9. University of Arizona Press