| Enhancements copyright (C) Marcia L. Peters,
all rights reserved |
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Artificial Waterways or Irrigation Canals |
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Traverse across linear valley with narrow ridge running down its center | |||||
| NASA Catalog: | http://ida.wr.usgs.gov/html/fha006/fha00603.html | |||||
Click on any image below for a full-resolution jpeg image of the same area
| Viking Context Images |
Viking Color Context Images |
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resolution: unknown - ~171m ?
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The deep grooved structures in the Viking
photo resemble earthly irrigation ditches. In shape, these are
quite unlike the other channels on Mars. By contrast, other channels are
typically sinuous , varying in width and depth from shallow to deep, and from divided curving
branches to a single main channel.
In contrast, these channels in this enhancement are relatively straight, uniform in width and depth, and join at approximately right angles. They also lie on an approximately flat plain where natural drainage would be less pronounced. We may as well use Schipiarelli's words and call them Martian Canals. |
By contrast, this is the typical appearance of natural drainage systems on Mars:
