View from the southeast towards the northern scarp of Ius Chasma
View from the southeast towards the northern scarp of Ius Chasma
Realistic perspective views of the Martian surface can be generated from data acquired by the stereo and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, which are oriented at an angle with respect to the planet's surface. This image shows the 8200-metre-high scarp that drops from the Martian highlands into Ius Chasma, one of the main graben in the Valles Marineris, the largest canyon system on Mars. A number of large landslides have occurred along the scarp, depositing large amounts of rock in the valley. The landslide deposits also exhibit flow structures that can be seen as elongated meandering rilles, fanning out with increasing distance. This suggests that ice or water stored in the highlands played a role in causing the landslides.
Copyright note:
As a joint undertaking by DLR, ESA and FU Berlin, the Mars Express HRSC images are published under a Creative Commons licence since December 2014: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. This licence will also apply to all HRSC images released to date.