‘Chaos’ north of Pyrrhae Regio
‘Chaos’ north of Pyrrhae Regio
This oblique perspective view from northeast to southwest over part of Pyrrhae Regio is spectacular. As with other ‘chaotic terrain’ in the wider area east of the Valles Marineris, a landscape reveals itself in which numerous ‘chaotically’ distributed mesas can be seen in a depression. It was formed when water stored as ice under the plateau thawed and flowed northwards in high-energy flash floods. What remained was an area in which the highlands collapsed, and the edges slipped off in terraces, thereby massively changing the landscape. The topography, which is not visible from this perspective, is also impressive; from the highland plateau in the background to the lowest points of the chaotic area, the difference in altitude is more than 4000 metres.
