The European Mars Express spacecraft has sent back detailed images of an area on Mars whose surface has been shaped by shocks in the rock plates. A similar movement of plates is responsible for the formation of the Earth's oceans. However, the scientists believe that the activity of the plates on Mars has already stopped
The European Mars Express spacecraft has sent back detailed images of an area on Mars whose surface has been shaped by shocks in the rock plates. A similar movement of plates is responsible for the formation of the Earth's oceans. However, the scientists believe that the activity of the plates on Mars has already stopped.
The picture shows channels up to 1.7 km deep that opened in the Acheron mountain range of Mars. The area, known as Acheron Fossae, is the northernmost point of the Tharis plateau and is about a thousand kilometers north of the giant volcano Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system.
The area is part of a network of channels that come out of the "Tharsis Escarpment", where there was active volcanic activity in the past. The channels were formed due to the upward movement of the rock plates. A hot substance erupted from the earth's condensation and covered the surface. As soon as the pressures passed a certain threshold, the channels opened in the weak points of the ground.
The appearance of the area is reminiscent of areas where similar activity occurs on Earth, such as the Syrian-African rift. The geologists explain that the channels are created following the development of several parallel cracks in the rock plates, until the ground between them sinks.
