Harmakhis Vallis is a valley near
Hellas Planitia
Hellas Planitia is a plain located within the huge, roughly circular impact basin Hellas located in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. Hellas is the third- or fourth-largest known impact crater in the Solar System. The basin floor is ...
,
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
. It has been identified as an
outflow channel
Outflow channels are extremely long, wide swathes of scoured ground on Mars. They extend many hundreds of kilometers in length and are typically greater than one kilometer in width. They are thought to have been carved by huge outburst floods.
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, the site of catastrophic floods of water during Mars' past.
Gullies
A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...
are also common on the wall of Harmakhis Vallis, as seen the image below. Some authors have suggested these structures indicate geologically recent flow of small quantities of water across the surface.
[Heldmann, J. and M. Mellon. Observations of Martian gullies and constraints on potential formation mechanisms. 2004. Icarus. 168: 285-304.]
See also
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Dao Vallis
Dao Vallis is a valley on Mars that appears to have been carved by water. It runs southwestward into Hellas Planitia from the southern slopes of the volcano Hadriacus Mons, and has been identified as an outflow channel. It and its tributary, Niger ...
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Reull Vallis
Reull Vallis is a valley on Mars that appears to have been carved by water. It runs westward into Hellas Planitia. It is named after the Gaelic word for planet. It is found in the Hellas quadrangle.
Lineated Floor Deposits
On the floors of som ...
References
;Further reading
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External links
HiRISE image of Harmakhis Vallis wall
Valleys and canyons on Mars
Hellas quadrangle
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