3-D Reconstruction Of Martian Surface Uncovers Lost Evidence Of Ancient Floods
Ancient Floodwaters on Mars The location of the ~1000 km Marte Vallis channel system on Mars. Marte Vallis is filled with young lavas obscuring the source and morphology of the channels. The dashed box highlights the area shown in the image at the bottom of the page. Courtesy of NASA/MOLA Team/Smithsonian InstitutionMars has been cold and dry for half its life, but as recently as 500 million years ago, its surface was shaped by water. A new 3-D model of ancient Mars depicts how ancient mega-floods carved channels into the planet within the last 500 million years. While Curiosity roves across Gale Crater in search of other watery evidence, this new map will help scientists trying to understand how water shaped the planet earlier in its life. Mars has several channels embedded in its surface, which were carved by ancient gigantic floods larger than anything known to have happened on Earth....