Simple facts
What it is: Kandol Chasma, the Great Canyon of Mars
Where it is: Valles Marineris, the largest canyon network in the solar system
When shared: August 14, 2025
Mars has a huge network of canyons that stretch around 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) across the equator. Called the Valles Marineris, this canyon system is the largest solar system on the planet Earth’s largest canyon, covering 460 miles (750 km) under the Greenland ice sheet. (Condolences for the Grand Canyon and its only 277 miles long.)
First captured on NASA’s Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1972, Valles Marineris was captured multiple times by Hirise cameras of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in orbit for 19 years. However, this geological wonder still holds many secrets.
This latest photo, taken on May 24th and released last week, is on the east side of Candor Chasma, one of the largest canyons in Valles Marineris. What it reveals could change how planetary geologists think about Mars’ ancient environment.
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Using the ability to see details up to the size of the kitchen table, Hirise created images showing several metres thick layered deposits at the University of Arizona’s Moon and Planetary Laboratory, which develops and operates the camera. Importantly, these sediment layers must be defined after the canyon itself has formed.
Related: 32 things on Mars that don’t seem to be there
Mars does not have plate tectonics like Earth. Instead, according to NASA, the crust is like one giant plate. However, the Mars crust still produces faults and fractures. Unlike the Earth’s Grand Canyon carved into a river, the sandy marinelis includes Candor Chasma – is thought to have been formed by volcanic activity, and landslides, floods and erosion later carve into its current form.
In 2021, the European Space Agency (ESA) revealed that cooperation between the Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter and the Russian Space Agency found water under the surface of Candor Chasma. It is believed that up to 40% of the material near the surface of Valles in Marinelis can be water. It would resemble the permafrost regions of the globe in Canada, Canada, Greenland and Siberia.
With its steep walls and chaotic landscape, Kandl Chasma will be challenged by a Mars rover to explore. However, the German space agency Vales Marinelis Exploration Project investigates the possibility of sending a flock of autonomous drivers, crawls, crawlers and private aircraft over this dangerous terrain.
For sublime space images, see Space Photos in this week’s archives.
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