Incredible pictures of Mars - and they look surprisingly like some parts of Earth

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Incredible pictures of Mars - and they look surprisingly like some parts of Earth

By Graham Smith
Last updated at 7:31 PM on 15th July 2008

Scientists have released some of the most detailed photographs of Mars ever taken.

The pictures, which were snapped from a European Space Agency (ESA) probe, show a region of the Red Planet called the Echus Chasma.

The deeply-incised area is a network of valleys that planetary geologists believe were created by channelling groundwater that once flowed on Mars' surface.

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Spectacular: A view of Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, showing a network of valleys

Perhaps most surprising is the remarkable resemblance the region bears to the valleys found in the driest areas on Earth, in particular the Grand Canyon.

The Echus Chasma is located just north of the Mars' equator.


The incision is approximately 100 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide in the Lunae Planum high plateau north of Valles Marineris.

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Barren: Located on the eastern part of Echus Chasma is this cliff which is up to 4,000 metres high

The photographs were taken by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA's Mars Express probe.

ESA officials said the canyons in the photographs are approximately 62 miles long, 6.2 miles wide and 3,000 feet deep.


There is also evidence of two impact craters, each five miles wide, and a 15-mile long magma dyke.

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Echus Chasma is the source region of Kasei Valles, which extends 3,000km to the north

Incredible pictures of Mars - and they look surprisingly like some parts of Earth | Mail Online