Ma'adim Vallis [SEP] located on astronomical body
Ma'adim Vallis
Ma'adim Vallis is one of the largest outflow channels on Mars, about 700 km long and significantly larger than Earth's Grand Canyon. It is over 20 km wide and 2 km deep in some places. It runs from a region of southern lowlands thought to have once contained a large group of lakes (see Eridania Lake) north to Gusev crater near the equator. It looks as if water may have collected in Gusev crater, forming a giant lake; the Spirit Rover was sent there to
. However, it seems that a volcanic flow covered up the lakebed sediments. Apollinaris Patera, a large volcano, lies directly north of Gusev Crater.
Recent studies lead scientists to believe that the water that formed Ma'adim Vallis originated in a complex of lakes. The largest lake is located at the source of the Ma'adim Vallis outflow channel and extends into Eridania quadrangle and the Phaethontis quadrangle. When the largest lake spilled over the low point in its boundary, a torrential flood would have moved north, carving the sinuous Ma'adim Vallis