Juventae Chasma is an enormous box canyon (250 km × 100 km) on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

which opens to the north and forms the outflow channel Maja Valles. Juventae Chasma is located north of

Valles Marineris Valles Marineris (; Latin for ''Mariner program, Mariner Valleys'', named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971–72 which discovered it) is a system of canyons that runs along the Mars, Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than ...

in the Coprates quadrangle and cuts more than 5 km into the plains of Lunae Planum.

Name

Juventae was named by Giovanni Schiaparelli after the mythical ''Juventae Fons'', the

fountain of youth The Fountain of Youth is a mythical Spring (hydrology), spring which supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted around the world for thousands of years, appearing in t ...

Observations

The floor of Juventae Chasma is partly covered by

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s. There is also a 2.5 km high mountain inside Juventae, 59 km long and 23 km wide, that was confirmed by

Mars Express ''Mars Express'' is a space exploration mission by the European Space Agency, European Space Agency (ESA) exploring the planet Mars and its moons since 2003, and the first planetary mission attempted by ESA. ''Mars Express'' consisted of two ...

to be composed of

sulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ...

deposits. MRO discovered sulfates, hydrated sulfates, and iron oxides in Juventae Chasma. Juventae Chasma has four bright mounds or light-toned interior layered deposits (IlD's), as they are often called. Researchers have found that monohydrated sulfates were first deposited on the floor. And then polyhydrated sulfates were laid down. Kieserite, a magnesium sulfate, was also found in Juventae Chasma. Studies from satellites orbiting Mars have found channels on the eastern, western, and southern walls of Juventae Chasma. They seem to have different origins. Some may have started from melting snow, others from groundwater sapping, and still others from precipitation. Inverted channels are also present. Inverted relief that are visible in Juventae Chasma are also visible in other parts of Mars. This occurs when sediments are deposited on the floor of a stream and then become resistant to erosion, perhaps by cementation. Later the area may be buried. Eventually, erosion removes the covering layer and the former streams become visible since they are resistant to erosion. Mars Global Surveyor found several examples of this process. Image:Juventae Chasma.jpg, Light toned sedimentary outcrops on the floor of Juventae Chasma. Image:Juventae Chasma Troughs.JPG, Juventae Chasma Troughs, as seen by

HiRISE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction ...

. Image:Inverted Streams in Juventae Chasma.jpg, Inverted Streams near Juventae Chasma, as seen by

Mars Global Surveyor ''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It launched November 1996 and collected data from 1997 to 2006. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined ...

. These streams begin at the top of a ridge then run together. Image:Juventae Chasma Inverted Channels.JPG, Inverted Channels near Juventae Chasma, as seen by

. Channels were once regular stream channels. Scale bar is 500 meters long. Image:Juventae Chasma Layers.JPG, Layers west of Juventae Chasma, as seen by

. Scale bar is 500 meters long. Image:Plateau near Juventae Chasma.jpg, Plateau near Juventae Chasma.

Name

Observations

References

See also