Ma'adim Vallis Flows North to Debouch Over Gusev Crater's Southern Rim

Summary: Ancient channel Ma'adim Vallis flows north in the Martian southern hemisphere to its terminus on the southern interior floor of Gusev Crater.

Burial by younger deposits may have effected apparent termination of ancient channel Ma'adim Vallis on Gusev Crater's southern floor, or the channel may have continued underground via percolation into surface materials on the impact crater's floor; color image, with north at top, shows northward-flow of Ma'adim Vallis into Gusev Crater's south-southeastern rim, in an area extending latitudinally from minus 13 degrees south to minus 29 degrees south and longitudinally from 180 degrees east to 188 degrees east; composite of medium-resolution black-and-white images and low-resolution color images obtained as Visual Image Subsystem (VIS) Experiment Data Record (EDR) Image Archive by Viking Lander 1 and Viking Lander 2; image credit NASA/JPL/USGS; image addition date 1998-06-08: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Ancient Martian channel Ma'adim Vallis lengthily flows north to make its debouchement to Gusev Crater's southern interior floor by traversing the large impact crater's heavily modified south-southeastern rim.

Gusev Crater occupies the southeastern quadrant of the Martian southern hemisphere's Aeolis quadrangle. Designated as Mars Chart 23 (MC-23), the Aeolis quadrangle depicts Martian topography from zero degrees to minutes 30 degrees south latitude and from 180 degrees west to 225 degrees west longitude (180 degrees east to 135 degrees east longitude).

Gusev Crater is centered at minus 14.53 degrees south latitude, 175.52 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The impact crater's northernmost and southernmost latitudes span minus 13.20 degrees south to minus 15.86 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes stretch from 176.91 degrees east to 174.15 degrees east, respectively. Gusev Crater's diameter spans 158.12 kilometers.

Ma'adim Vallis associates with Gusev Crater as the endpoint of the ancient channel's northward flow. The "Martian channel system" originates in the highlands of the Martian southern hemisphere's Terra Cimmeria region, according to planetary geoscientist David W. Leverington in "Incision of Ma’adim Vallis (Mars) by dry volcanic megafloods effused from multiple highland sources," published in the Oct. 15, 2020, issue of Planetary and Space Science.

Terra Cimmeria spreads across two quadrangles. Its northern extent, which includes Ma'adim Vallis, reaches into the Aeolis quadrangle. The large region mostly occupies the Aeolis quadrangle's southern neighbor, the Eridania quadrangle, designated as Mars Chart 29 (MC-29).

Terra Cimmeria is centered at minus 32.68 degrees south latitude, 147.75 degrees east longitude. The vast, heavily cratered region spreads into the Martian northern hemisphere for its northernmost latitude of 12.13 minutes north latitude. Its southernmost latitude dips to minus 73.54 degrees south latitude. It expands its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 179.66 degrees east and 98.79 degrees east, respectively. Terra Cimmeria's diameter spans 5,855.87 kilometers.

Geomorphic features of Ma'adim Vallis include inner channels, terraces and immature tributary valleys. Steep walls and flat floors characterize many reaches of the system's channels and valleys, as described by David Leverington.

Ma'adim Vallis is centered at minus 21.98 degrees south, 177.50 degrees east. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes parameterize at minus 15.61 degrees south and minus 28.15 degrees south, respectively. The outflow channel demarcates its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 178.38 degrees east and 175.65 degrees east, respectively. The valley system's diameter (length) spans 913.11 kilometers.

Ma'adim Vallis journeys through the superposition of New Plymouth Crater on Downe Crater at Gusev Crater's south-southeastern rim. The channel then settles on the interior floor of southern Gusev Crater.

The termination of Ma'adim Vallis on Gusev Crater's southern floor may be uncertain, according to "PIA00414: Ma'adim Vallis," published by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Photojournal. Burial by younger deposits convey an impression of termination that may be apparent but not unequivocal. Percolation into surface materials on Gusev Crater's interior floor could have allowed Ma'adim Vallis to continue underground.

New Plymouth and Downe craters modify Gusev Crater's south-southeastern rim. In their overlap, New Plymouth assumes a more northerly position and Downe presents a more southerly placement.

New Plymouth Crater is centered at minus 15.78 degrees south, 175.87 degrees east. It considers its northernmost and southernmost latitudes as minus 15.51 degrees south and minus 16.04 degrees south, respectively. It assigns its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 176.15 degrees east and 175.60 degrees east, respectively. New Plymouth Crater has a diameter of 31.54 kilometers.

Downe Crater is centered at minus 15.98 degrees south, 175.78 degrees east. It exerts its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 15.74 degrees south and minus 16.22 degrees south, respectively. It anchors its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 176.03 degrees east and 175.54 degrees east, respectively. Downe Crater has a diameter of 28.13 kilometers.

Adoption of Ma'adim Vallis (Hebrew: מַאֲדִים, ma'adim, "Mars"; Latin: vallis, "valley") as the outflow channel's official name occurred in 1973. Ma'adim is identified as "Word for 'Mars' in Hebrew, according to the feature's profile page on the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Approval was granted at the IAU’s XVth General Assembly, held in Sydney, Australia, from Tuesday, Aug. 21, to Thursday, Aug. 30, 1973.

Image obtained by The European Space Agency's Mars orbiter, Mars Express, depicts the neighborhood of Gusev Crater (top left-center) and Ma'adim Vallis (top left-center to right) in the Martian southern hemisphere; image, which is centered at approximated minus 29 degrees south latitude, 182 degrees east longitude, covers an area of 138 x 70 kilometers, which roughly approximates the size of the island country of the Republic of Cyprus in Earth's eastern Mediterranean Sea; sharp boundary in image's center, which divides dark material to the west from light material to the east, likely demarcates the edge of a basaltic lava flow: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum), CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, via The European Space Agency

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

Burial by younger deposits may have effected apparent termination of ancient channel Ma'adim Vallis on Gusev Crater's southern floor, or the channel may have continued underground via percolation into surface materials on the impact crater's floor; color image, with north at top, shows northward-flow of Ma'adim Vallis into Gusev Crater's south-southeastern rim, in an area extending latitudinally from minus 13 degrees south to minus 29 degrees south and longitudinally from 180 degrees east to 188 degrees east; composite of medium-resolution black-and-white images and low-resolution color images obtained as Visual Image Subsystem (VIS) Experiment Data Record (EDR) Image Archive by Viking Lander 1 and Viking Lander 2; image credit NASA/JPL/USGS; image addition date 1998-06-08: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00414

Image obtained by The European Space Agency's Mars orbiter, Mars Express, depicts the neighborhood of Gusev Crater (top left-center) and Ma'adim Vallis (top left-center to right) in the Martian southern hemisphere; image, which is centered at approximated minus 29 degrees south latitude, 182 degrees east longitude, covers an area of 138 x 70 kilometers, which roughly approximates the size of the island country of the Republic of Cyprus in Earth's eastern Mediterranean Sea; sharp boundary in image's center, which divides dark material to the west from light material to the east, likely demarcates the edge of a basaltic lava flow: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum), CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, via The European Space Agency @ https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Craters_lava_flows_and_tectonic_features_near_Ma_adim_Vallis; via The European Space Agency @ https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Craters_lava_flows_and_tectonic_features_near_Ma_adim_Vallis (individual image URL)

For further information:

Contopoulos, G. (George); and A. (Arnost) Jappel, eds. XVth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XV B Proceedings of the 15th General Assembly and Extraordinary General Assembly, Sydney, Australia, August 24-30, 1973. Washington DC: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Jan. 1, 1974.
Available via IAU @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/
Available via The Moon Wiki @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU_Transactions_XVB

The European Space Agency. "Craters, lava flows and tectonic features near Ma'adim Vallis." The European Space Agency > Science & Exploration. July 24, 2009.
Available via ESA (European Space Agency) @ https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Craters_lava_flows_and_tectonic_features_near_Ma_adim_Vallis

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Downe.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010 9:58 a.m.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/1634

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gusev.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010 9:58 a.m.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/Gusev

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Ma'adim Vallis.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Mars. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006 3:30 p.m.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3772

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “New Plymouth.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010 9:58 a.m.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4231

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Terra Cimmeria.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Mars. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006 3:30 p.m.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5930

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA00414: Ma'adim Vallis." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Photojournal. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS. Image Addition Date: 1998-06-08.
Available via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00414

Leverington, David W. "Incision of Ma’adim Vallis (Mars) by dry volcanic megafloods effused from multiple highland sources." Planetary and Space Science, vol. 1919 (Oct. 15, 2020): 105021.
Available via ScienceDirect @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0032063320300064

Marriner, Derdriu. "Gusev Crater in Southern Mars Honors Russian Astronomer Matvey Gusev." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 10, 2024.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2024/04/gusev-crater-in-southern-mars-honors.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Martian Crater Galdakao Nudges Jagged Northeastern Rim of Gusev Crater." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2024/04/martian-crater-galdakao-nudges-jagged.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Three Named Craters and One Channel Overlap Gusev Crater's Rim on Mars." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2024/05/three-named-craters-and-one-channel.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Three Named Craters Distinguish Central Floor in Gusev Crater on Mars." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 17, 2024.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2024/04/three-named-craters-distinguish-central.html