Olympus Mons, Valles Marineris and the face on Mars are a few of the natural wonders that have been discovered on Mars.
Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, is about half the size of earth, yet it possesses many of our solar systems most interesting natural wonders. It has two asymmetrically shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos, and has a reddish hue, easily seen from earth with the naked eye, due to the heavy presence of iron oxide in the soil. Despite all the conjecture of life having once existed on the planet; to date no proof of the existence of life has been found. Mars, however, does have the largest volcano/mountain in the solar system as well as the biggest known canyon.
Olympus Mons
Olympus Mons is the solar systems largest volcano. It measure three hundred forty two miles wide, has a volcanic crater of fifty-six miles across and two miles deep. It’s fifteen miles high and possesses cliffs that are a sheer four miles high vertically. The volcano is so big, that it would encompass the entire state of Utah. In sheer comparison, it is about three times taller than Mt. Everest. Scientists estimate that eruptions started approximately 3.8 billion years ago, and may have continued on and off as recently as two millions years ago. There’s some speculation that it could still be an active volcano.
Valles Marineris
The Valles Marineris is the biggest known canyon in the solar system. It encompasses a fifth of the way around Mars. It’s six miles or 10 kilometers deep and stretches for over 2500 miles. Although scientists haven’t ruled out that water may have formed some of the channels, most feel that this canyon was formed when Mars’ tectonic plates cooled and solidified, cracking apart.
The Face on Mars
Many scientists were extremely excited about photographs sent back to Earth from the Viking mission in 1977. One of the pictures sent, showed what seemed to be the likeliness of a face on the surface. The picture provoked many discussions as to the possibility of life having once existed on the planet. Pictures, however, sent back from another satellite in the early 1990’s, proved that the face was actually an illusion. Just a trick of light on a random geological structure, that happened to be present at the very moment that the picture was being taken.
Despite all of the satellite images and robotic rovers roaming the planet, a lot still is unanswered. High quality images have helped us to understand our planetary neighbor better. As time passes, undoubtedly, more natural phenomenon will come to light, allowing us to marvel at her beauty.
References
Sparrow,Giles.The Planets:A journey through the Solar System. Quercus Publishers
