Solar system's largest Canyon is 10 times the size of the Grand Canyon, claims NASA

The new images released by NASA reveal that the Grand Canyon in Arizona is one of the most awe-inspiring sights on Earth, but it is merely a scratch when compared to the Canyon on Mars. Known as 'Valles Marineris', this system of deep canyons runs more than 2,500 miles along the Martian equator, spanning nearly a quarter of the planet's circumference. 

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NASA reveals details of solar system's largest Canyon

NASA revealed that the gash in the bedrock of Mars is nearly 10 times as long as Earth's Grand Canyon and 3 times deeper, making it the largest canyon in the solar system. Recent images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal further details about its colossal size. The University of Arizona said, these pictures were taken using the HiRISE (High-resolution Imaging Science Experiment), which is the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet. HiRISE is one of the 6 instruments onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. 

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"Unlike Earth's Grand Canyon, Valles Marineris probably wasn't carved out by billions of years of rushing water; the Red Planet is too hot and dry to have ever accommodated a river large enough to slash through the crust like that," LiveScience said.

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The European Space Agency say the canyon’s formation is likely intimately linked with the formation of the neighbouring Tharsis bulge, which holds the largest volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons. As the Tharsis bulge swelled with magma during the planet’s first billion years, the surrounding crust was stretched, ripping apart and eventually collapsing into the gigantic troughs of Valles Marineris. As per LiveScience, the further analysis of high-resolution photos like these will help solve the puzzling origin story of the solar system's grandest canyon.

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