HiRISE: Dreaming of graben in the Labyrinth of Night

ESP_045605_1715Noctis Labyrinthus is a highly tectonized region immediately to the west of Valles Marineris. It formed when Mars’ crust stretched itself apart.

In this region, the crust first stretched in a north-south direction (as evidenced by the east-west trending scarp) and then in an east-west direction (as evidenced by the north-south trending smaller scarps). This sort of tectonic stretching creates faults in the crust (cracks along with masses of rock slide. This process is totally unrelated to Earth’s plate tectonics.). [More at link]

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