Landforms on Planets
- The Valles Marineris, also called the "Grand Canyon of Mars," is located along the equator of Mars. It is on the east side of Tharsis Bulge, featuring a series of long canyons that stretches up to 2,500 miles long. It is a large tectonic crack that grew as the planet cooled after its formation, stretching for nearly a quarter of the planet's circumference.
- The Olympus Mons is another landform on Mars. It has a distinctive feature in that it contains basaltic shield volcanoes. Sloping flanks imply the formation of basalt and other types of fluid lava. Olympus Mons has a very low profile with an average slope of five degrees, with contours that have been compared to a circus tent held up by a single pole shifted slightly away from center.
- Tycho, like most of the fresh craters over a few tens of miles wide, is an obvious mark that can be seen during a full moon. It remains one of the moon's most easily viewable landmarks. Tycho's age is about 108 million years, which is relatively young in astronomical years, especially when compared to other planetary landforms within the solar system.
- Ancient astronomers thought the Lunar Maria to be a series of oceans that lay on the moon. These landforms are dark spots on the face of the moon, consisting of several large and small formations. These landforms were created because of a series of volcanic eruptions that occurred on the moon's surface millions of years ago. A darker type of rock creates this illusion, making it appear like water from afar. The majority of Lunar Maria is composed of thick, basaltic lava rock.
