Valles Marineris Valles Marineris

Next to the Tharsis Ridge is Valles Marineris. Valles Marineris is a large system of canyons that stretches 4000 km (2500 miles) along the equator of Mars. As can be seen in the image, many huge ancient river channels originate from northerly canyons and extend north, toward the top of the image. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots) are visible on the leftmost (western) edge of the image. To the south are the highlands; very ancient ground, covered by many craters.