The great canyon system of Valles Marineris stretches 4000 kilometers across Mars. This figure shows part of Ius Chasma, the southwestern part of the Valles Marineris. The region shown here is 600 kilometers across.
- Working for Scale (Geography and Math). The figure shown above is 600 kilometers east-to- west (left to right). At this scale, how many centimeters (or inches) on the figure represent 100 kilometers on Mars? How many kilometers from the top of the scene to the bottom? How big is the largest impact crater in the scene? How far is it across your home town?
Sketch the outline of your home state at this same scale - would it fit inside Ius Chasma? Which states would fit inside? Ius Chasma is about 5 kilometers deep. For comparison, how tall (in kilometers) is Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth? How tall is Mt. McKinley (Denali), the tallest in North America?
Find a map of Arizona or the western U.S. that shows the Grand Canyon. Trace the path of the Colorado River as it flows through the Grand Canyon. Now redraw your sketch at the same scale as the Valles Marineris figure. Which canyons in the figure are comparable to the Grand Canyon? How wide is the Grand Canyon, and how wide are the canyons on the south side of Ius Chasma?
Advanced: Imagine you are standing on the floor of Ius Chasma at its south wall, at the very eastern edge of the figure. How tall does the north wall of the Chasma appear to be? As tall as a telephone pole seen from a block away? Did you consider that Mars is a spherical planet (more or less) and that its surface is curved?
- Straight and Crooked Paths. Ius Chasma is basically straight because its edges follow huge geologic faults. On a map of your home state, trace out the channels of rivers and streams; are any of them straight like Ius Chasma? From a map of Arizona, trace the main channels and canyons in the Grand Canyon. Is the Grand Canyon as crooked as the canyons on the south wall of the Chasm? Find the East African Rift on a topographic map of Africa. The Rift's walls are huge geologic faults--are any parts of the Rift as long and straight as Ius Chasma?
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©Lunar and Planetary Institute (1996)
