Mars features towering volcanoes alongside deep valleys, presenting many magnificent locations for future exploration.
Illustration of an astronaut on Mars. (Image: Victor Habbick Visions/Getty Images).
Mars is a planet with diverse and contrasting terrain, featuring high mountains, deep valleys, and impact craters that may have contained water, making it an extremely attractive destination for tourists once we conquer the Red Planet.
1. Olympus Mons
(Image: NASA/MOLA Science Team).
Olympus Mons is the tallest volcano in the Solar System, located in the Tharsis volcanic region, which spans approximately 295,000 km².
Olympus Mons stands about 25 km high, nearly three times the height of Mount Everest on Earth. It is a massive shield volcano with a summit caldera that forms a flat area about 85 km wide, created after lava flowed down its slopes. With a gentle slope of only 5%, visitors can easily ascend.
2. Tharsis Volcanic Region
(Image: NASA/JPL).
If you visit Olympus Mons, consider exploring other volcanoes in the Tharsis volcanic region. There are 12 massive volcanoes spread over an area of approximately 4,000 km.
Similar to Olympus Mons, these volcanoes are significantly larger than mountains on Earth, likely due to Mars’ weaker gravitational pull, which allows them to rise higher without collapsing under their own weight. These volcanoes last erupted about 2 billion years ago, roughly half of Mars’ geological history.
3. Valles Marineris
(Image: NASA)
Mars is home not only to the tallest volcano in the Solar System but also to the largest canyon.
Valles Marineris stretches approximately 3,000 km, over four times the length of the Grand Canyon in the United States. Scientists are still uncertain about how Valles Marineris formed, but there are a few hypotheses.
Most scientists believe that the formation of the Tharsis volcanic region contributed to the creation of Valles Marineris. Lava flowing through the volcanic area pushed the crust upward, fracturing it in various locations. Over time, these fractures evolved into Valles Marineris.
4. North and South Poles
(Image: NASA/JPL/USGUS).
The two frozen areas on Mars are the North and South Poles. The photo above shows the North Pole, which was explored by the Phoenix lander in 2008, while the South Pole has only been studied through satellite observations.
During winter, temperatures at both poles drop so low that carbon dioxide condenses in the atmosphere, forming ice on the surface. Conversely, in summer, the carbon dioxide sublimates and rises into the atmosphere, completely vanishing from the northern hemisphere, leaving behind a layer of water ice, while some carbon dioxide ice still remains in the southern hemisphere.
These changes in ice state significantly affect Mars’ climate, creating winds and other phenomena.
5. Gale Crater and Mount Sharp
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU).
Since the landing of the Curiosity rover in 2012, Gale Crater has gained fame for providing substantial evidence of past water presence in the area.
Currently, Curiosity is climbing Mount Sharp to observe the geological features within each layer of the mountain. An intriguing discovery by Curiosity is that this area contains complex organic molecules and that methane levels in the atmosphere vary seasonally. Methane is a compound that can be emitted by microorganisms, hence its presence is one of the indicators of potential life.
6. Medusae Fossae Formation
(Image: ESA).
The Medusae Fossae geological formation is one of the strangest sites on Mars. Some speculate that it may provide evidence of a collision with an unidentified flying object (UFO).
Scientific observations suggest that this area may be a concentration of volcanic sediments. Over time, the wind has eroded the rocks into bizarre shapes.
Research in 2018 indicated that volcanic formations here developed over a period of more than 500 million years. The volcanic eruptions during that time warmed Mars’ climate due to greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
7. Seasonal Dark Streaks in Hale Crater
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona).
There is also a very peculiar site on Mars, where dark streaks appear along slopes during the warm season. It is challenging to explain why these streaks emerge.
The above image was captured in Hale Crater, and image analysis indicates signs of water. There are several hypotheses explaining the presence of water here, but accurate answers would require onsite surveys.
However, this poses a challenge; if there is indeed water and it serves as a habitat for extraterrestrial microorganisms, we should avoid getting too close to prevent contamination risks.
8. The Dust Dunes in the Labyrinth of Night and Hellas Basin
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona).
Mars is a planet whose surface features are primarily shaped by winds today, as all water has long evaporated. Yet, we still recognize abundant evidence of ancient water, such as in the Dust Dunes of the Labyrinth of Night and Hellas Basin.
Researchers indicate that these areas once had hills several meters high, but later these hills were submerged in water or lava, leaving only their bases as the tops were eroded away.
These dust dunes reveal how ancient winds on Mars operated, and climatologists use this information to infer the ancient environment here. They even suspect that microorganisms may hide within these sheltered dust dunes, allowing them to evade radiation and not be swept away by the wind.
