Mars has always been an object of fascination for many since centuries. With the advancement of technology, the scientists are now starting to discover more about the enigmatic Red Planet. Also, thanks to the various social media profiles by the space agencies, people are also getting to know intriguing details about Earth’s neighbouring planet. Just like this post on ‘Grand Canyon of Mars. The post besides mesmerising people with incredible images, also teaches them more about Mars.
European Space agency posted the images on their official Instagram page. They also shared a detailed caption. “Deep in the Grand Canyon of Mars. Hebes Chasma is an enclosed, almost 8000 m-deep trough in the most northern part of Valles Marineris, the 3000-km long “Grand Canyon of Mars”,” they wrote.
“The steep flanks of the trough show branched incisions and small veins of rock. Below the flanks, run-off and material from larger landslides is visible. A flat-topped mountain is located in the centre of Hebes Chasma (3). It reaches 8000 m above the graben floor and rises to almost the same height as the plain surrounding the trough. The mountain is made up of numerous rock layers stacked on top of each other, perhaps made out of remnants of an older plateau, sediments from a lake, wind-blown sediments or volcanic rocks. The rock layers were exposed by erosion,” they added.
“The origin of Hebes Chasma is thought to be connected to the nearby Tharsis Region, which was uplifted in the course of intense volcanism. The uplift created tremendous amounts of stress in the crust forming a series of faults oriented radially. Data acquired by the OMEGA spectrometer on-board Mars Express has revealed water-bearing minerals such as gypsum in some areas of Hebes Chasma. This is proof that at least significant quantities of water once existed in Hebes Chasma,” ESA also explained.
{{/usCountry}}“The origin of Hebes Chasma is thought to be connected to the nearby Tharsis Region, which was uplifted in the course of intense volcanism. The uplift created tremendous amounts of stress in the crust forming a series of faults oriented radially. Data acquired by the OMEGA spectrometer on-board Mars Express has revealed water-bearing minerals such as gypsum in some areas of Hebes Chasma. This is proof that at least significant quantities of water once existed in Hebes Chasma,” ESA also explained.
{{/usCountry}}Take a look at the incredible images that may make your jaw drop in wonder:
The video has been posted about 15 hours ago. Since being shared, it has also accumulated nearly 11,000 likes and the numbers are only increasing. The share has also prompted people to post various comments.
“Wonderful, fascinating, and powerful Mars,” shared an Instagram user. “Amazing,” expressed another. “This stuns me,” commented a third. “That’s pretty epic,” wrote a fourth.
What are your thoughts on the post?