Fly Over Mars' Xanthe Terra Highland Region and Its 3.5 Billion-Year-Old Channels

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Data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera Mars Chart (HMC30) was used to creat an animated flyover of the Xanthe Terra highland region on the Red Planet.   Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin & NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Transcript

00:00Join us as we fly over the highlands of Mars's Xantetera region.

00:06We begin by following a channel called Shaubatana Vallis. This deep valley was

00:15most likely carved out around 3.5 billion years ago, when a huge amount of groundwater was

00:22released onto Mars's surface. Shaubatana Vallis stretches for more than 1,300

00:29kilometers. As we fly northwards, imagine a catastrophic flood rushing downhill.

00:37Following the valley downstream towards Mars's northern lowlands, we pass many impact craters.

00:44These reveal that the ancient land has been battered by space rocks over billions of years.

00:52This region, called Cricea Planitia, is much smoother. It has been flattened by floodwaters.

01:03Turning east, we continue over a lowland landscape of scattered hills.

01:09This region, called Cricea Planitia, is much smoother. It has been flattened by floodwaters.

01:15We see fewer impact craters than we did in the highlands moments ago. Among the small hills are a

01:23few larger flat-topped islands. These are remnants of the original land that may have resisted being

01:30eroded by the flowing water.

01:45We are now heading southwards once again, climbing back up to the highlands of Xante Terra.

01:50Coming up below us is a vast region of chaotic ground, covered with a messy maze of flat-topped and

02:13rounded hills. On Mars, this kind of jumbled landscape, called chaos terrain, is often seen where

02:21groundwater escaped through the surface and flooded the land downstream.

02:26We finish our journey by flying past the 100-kilometre-wide Da Vinci impact crater.

02:40Its floor is smooth compared to the bumpy ground around us.

02:45Inside Da Vinci is a much smaller impact crater, surrounded by a blanket of material

02:51that was thrown out when Mars' surface was hit.

02:55And that concludes our tour of Xante Terra. See you next time, on board Mars Express.

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