Cut by outflow channels – the mouth region of Mamers Valles on Mars
Cut by outflow channels – the mouth region of Mamers Valles on Mars
At the end of the Mamers Valles, water once flowed into the lowlands of Deuteronilus Mensae. This river – along with ice from glaciers moving down the valley – eroded wide gullies into the highlands. The word 'mensae' (the Latin plural of mensa – 'table') refers to the numerous mesas (table mountains) that have been preserved there as remnants of erosion. What remains is a landform known as 'fretted terrain': fractured terrain featuring numerous deep and wide labyrinthine valleys, flat-topped mesas, steep cliffs and glacier-like deposits.