Middle section of the Shalbatana Vallis outflow channel
Middle section of the Shalbatana Vallis outflow channel
Shalbatana Vallis is an outflow channel approximately ten kilometres wide and nearly 500 metres deep in its middle section, stretching for more than 1000 kilometres from the Martian highlands towards Chryse Planitia. The channel's cross-section does not resemble that of a river eroding into the landscape with sloping banks, but is instead almost box-shaped. This type of valley profile is characteristic of outflow channels and results from large volumes of high-energy water that emerged as groundwater and rapidly drained away, carrying vast amounts of sediment in the process. The channel formed approximately 3.5 billion years ago.
