00:01Join us as we fly over the highlands of Mars's Xantetera region.
00:09We 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
00:42impact craters. These reveal that the ancient land has been battered by space
00:47rocks over billions of years.
01:03Turning east, we continue over a lowland landscape of scattered hills. This region,
01:10called Criceplanitia, is much smoother. It has been flattened by flood waters.
01:17We see fewer impact craters than we did in the highlands moments ago. Among the small
01:23hills are a few larger, flat-topped islands. These are remnants of the original land that
01:29may have resisted being eroded by the flowing water.
01:44We are now heading southwards once again, climbing back up to the highlands of Zanteterra.
02:06Coming 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.
02:34We finish our journey by flying past the 100-kilometre-wide Da Vinci impact crater. Its floor is smooth compared
02:42to the bumpy ground around us.
02:45Inside Da Vinci is a much smaller impact crater surrounded by a blanket of material that was thrown out when
02:52Mars' surface was hit.
02:54And that concludes our tour of Zanteterra. See you next time on board Mars Express.
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