{{Short description|Geographical feature on Mars}} {{Infobox feature on celestial object |name = Mangala Valles |image = [[File:Mangala Valles based on day THEMIS.png|250px]] |caption = The Mangala Valles and Mangala Fossa<br />([[Thermal Emission Imaging System|THEMIS]] image) |coordinates = {{coord|11.6|S|151.0|W|globe:mars_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |length = 828.0 km }}
The '''Mangala Valles''' are a complex system of criss-crossing channels on [[Mars]], located in the [[Tharsis|Tharsis region]] and in the [[Memnonia quadrangle]]. They originated in the [[Martian geologic timescale|Hesperian and Amazonian epochs]]. They are thought to be an [[outflow channel]] system, carved by catastrophic floods, and the release of vast quantities of water across the Martian surface. This flooding was probably initiated by [[tectonic]] stretching and the formation of a [[graben]], [[Mangala Fossa]], at the channels' head, perhaps breaching a pressurized [[aquifer]] trapped beneath a thick "[[cryosphere]]" (layer of frozen ground) beneath the surface.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msss.com/http/ps/channels/channels.html|title=Mars Channels and Valleys|publisher=Msss.com|access-date=13 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Carr2006">{{cite book|author=Michael H. Carr|title=The surface of Mars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLHlJ6sjohwC|access-date=21 March 2011|date=2006|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-87201-0}}</ref><ref>Carr, M. 1979. Formation of martian flood features by release of water from confined aquifers. Journal of Geophysical Research 84: 2995-3007.</ref><ref>Hanna, J. and R. Phillips. 2005. Tectonic pressurization of aquifers in the formation of Mangala and Athabasca Valles on Mars. LPSC XXXVI. Abstract 2261.</ref><ref name="LPS-2004">{{cite web |last1=Ghatan |first1=Gil J. |last2=Head |first2=James W. |last3=Wilson |first3=L. |last4=Leask |first4=H.J. |title=Mangala Valles, Mars: Investigations of the Source of Flood Water and Early Stages of Flooding - Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV (2004) |url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2004/pdf/1147.pdf |date=2004 |work=[[Lunar and Planetary Institute]] |access-date=6 December 2015 }}</ref><ref name="JGR-20070224">{{cite journal |last1=Leask |first1=Harald J. |last2=Wilson |first2=Lionel |last3=Mitchell |first3=Karl L.|s2cid=14798124 |title=Formation of Mangala Fossa, the source of the Mangala Valles, Mars: Morphological development as a result of volcano-cryosphere interactions |date=24 February 2007 |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research]] |volume=112 |issue=E02011 |pages= E02011|doi=10.1029/2005JE002644 |bibcode=2007JGRE..112.2011L |url=https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/31116/1/2005JE002644.pdf |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="JGR-20070804">{{cite journal |last1=Leask |first1=Harald J. |last2=Wilson |first2=Lionel |last3=Mitchell |first3=Karl L.|title=Formation of Mangala Valles outflow channel, Mars: Morphological development and water discharge and duration estimates |date=4 August 2007 |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research]] |volume=112 |issue=E08003 |pages= E08003|doi=10.1029/2006JE002851 |bibcode=2007JGRE..112.8003L |url=https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/31123/1/2006JE002851.pdf |doi-access=free }}</ref> The Mangala Valles contain several basins; after they filled, the overflow went through a series of spillways.<ref>Cabrol, N. and E. Grin (eds.). 2010. Lakes on Mars. Elsevier. NY.</ref><ref>Emrick, C. and R. De Hon. 1999. Flood discharge through Labou Vallis, Mars. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. XXX: Abstract #1893.</ref> One source of waters for the system was the Memonia Fossae, but water also probably came from a large basin centered at 40 degrees S.<ref>Zimbelman, J. et al. 1992. Volatile history of Mangala Valles, Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research 97: 18309-18317</ref><ref>De Hon, R. 1994. Lacustrine sedimentation in lower Mangals Valles. Mars Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. XXVII: 295-296</ref>
A recent study that used photogeologic analysis, geomorphic surface mapping, cratering statistics, and relative stratigraphy, demonstrated that the Mangala Valles were flooded by water at least twice and covered with lava at least three times during the Late Amazonian.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Keske|first1=Amber L.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Christopher W.|last3=McEwen|first3=Alfred S.|last4=Daubar|first4=Ingrid J.|title=Episodes of fluvial and volcanic activity in Mangala Valles, Mars|journal=Icarus|date=2015|volume=245|pages=333–347|bibcode=2015Icar..245..333K|doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2014.09.040|pmid=29176911|pmc=5701667}}</ref> The presence of scoured bedrock at the base of the mapped stratigraphy, together with evidence from crater retention ages, suggests that fluvial activity came before lava flows. These alternating periods of aqueous flooding and volcanism are similar to that of other outflow systems on Mars, such as [[Ravi Vallis]] and the [[Kasei Valles]].<ref name="JGR-20060613">{{cite journal |last1=Leask |first1=Harald J. |last2=Wilson |first2=Lionel |last3=Mitchell |first3=Karl L. |title=Formation of Ravi Vallis outflow channel, Mars: Morphological development, water discharge, and duration estimates |date=13 June 2006 |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research]] |volume=111 |issue=E8 |pages=E08070 |doi=10.1029/2005JE002550 |bibcode=2006JGRE..111.8070L |url=https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/8797/1/jgre2068.pdf |doi-access=free }}</ref>
There are wind-sculpted ridges, or [[yardang]]s, covering many of the surfaces in the Mangala Valles region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03827|title=Catalog Page for PIA03827|publisher=Photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov|access-date=13 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/mars/chap12.htm|title=The Planet Mars: A History of Observation and Discovery|publisher=Uapress.arizona.edu|access-date=13 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004105217/http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/MARS/CHAP12.HTM|archive-date=4 October 2014}}</ref>
"[[Mangala]]" is the name for [[Mars]] in [[Hindu astrology|Jyotish (or Hindu) astrology]].
==Gallery== {{multiple image |caption_align=center |header=The Mangala Valles and Mangala Fossa ([[USGS]] maps) |align=center |width= |direction=horizontal |image1=USGS-Mars-MC-16-MemnoniaRegion-mola.png |caption1=Context |width1=400 |image2=USGS-Mars-MC-16-MemnoniaRegion-mola-crop.png |caption2=Close-up |width2=133 |footer_align = center |footer=[[Topographic map]]s ([[Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter|MOLA]]) – [[Memnonia quadrangle|Memnonia region]] of [[Mars]] (left); and a close-up (right) of the location of [[Mangala Fossa]] and the source of the Mangala Valles [[outflow channel]]s. }}
<gallery align="center"> File:Mangala Vallis.JPG|A streamlined island within the Mangala Valles, as seen by [[THEMIS]]. File:Mangala Valles from hirise.JPG|The Mangala Valles, as seen by [[HiRISE]]. </gallery> ==In fiction== * The Mangala Valles are referred to in [[Michael Crichton]]'s book ''[[Sphere (novel)|Sphere]]''. * In [[Stephen Baxter (author)|Stephen Baxter]]'s novel ''[[Voyage (Stephen Baxter novel)|Voyage]]'', they are the location of the first crewed Mars landing. * They are mentioned in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s and [[Stephen Baxter (author)|Stephen Baxter]]'s novel ''[[The Long Mars]]''. * They are also the location of the first crewed Mars base in {{cite book |author=Codex Regius |date=1999 |title=Horsemen of Mars|isbn=978-1499274578 }}
==See also== {{commons category|Mangala Valles}} * [[Graben]] * [[Memnonia quadrangle]] * [[Outburst flood]] * [[Outflow channels]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://www.lpi.usra.edu Lunar and Planetary Institute]
{{Geography of Mars}} {{Portal bar|Solar System}}
[[Category:Valleys and canyons on Mars]] [[Category:Memnonia quadrangle]]