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Inverted Channels of Aeolis

Nov. 17, 2004
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows ancient channels and valleys through which liquids once flowed. In the Aeolis region of Mars, wind erosion has exposed and inverted a plethora of ancient channels, stream beds, in a fan-shaped sedimentary rock.

17 November 2004
Mars was once a much wetter world than it is today. Locked within the martian bedrock are ancient channels and valleys through which liquids -- e.g., water -- once flowed. In the Aeolis region of Mars, wind erosion has exposed and inverted a plethora of ancient channels - stream beds -- in a fan-shaped sedimentary rock unit near 6.3°S, 208.6°W. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example. The smooth-looking, sinuous ridges that run left-right across the image are the inverted channels. The rugged, sharp-looking ridges that run nearly north-south (up-down) through the image are yardangs--ridges formed by wind erosion. The water (or other liquid) responsible for the original channels flowed from the left (west) to right/upper right (east/northeast). This scene covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across, and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

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