Echus Chasma (False Colors)

The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express has returned images of Echus Chasma, one of the largest Water Source Regions on the Red Planet.
The data were acquired on September, 25, 2005.
The pictures are centred at about 1° North and 278° East and have a ground resolution of approx. 17 mt/pixel.
Echus Chasma is an approx. 100 Km long and 10 Km wide incision in the Lunae Planum High Plateau North of Valles Marineris, the ‘Grand Canyon’ of Mars. Echus Chasma is the Water Source Region of Kasei Valles, which extends thousands of Km to the North, and its southern-most part. The images of the Echus Chasma plateau show valleys that are about 10 km long and 1000 m deep. The main valley, Kasei Valles, is about 4 km in depth. The smaller valleys, also called sapping canyons, originate from the discharge of groundwater.
Echus Chasma is bounded to the West by the Echus Chasma Plateau, which lies about 4 Km above the Echus Chasma floor.