Hydraotes Chaos

This VIS image shows part of Hydraotes Chaos. Hydraotes Chaos measures about 300 kilometers (190 miles) wide by roughly 350 km (220 mi) north-south. The chaos lies in a valley leading northeast out of Ganges Chasma at the east end of Valles Marineris. Tiu Valles flows northward from Hydraotes Chaos to empty into Chryse Planitia. In planetary nomenclature, the descriptor term chaos means "distinctive area of broken terrain". The general morphology of chaos is steep-sided mesas in close proximity. With time and erosion the valleys widen and the mesas grow smaller. The initial breakup of the land can be due to tectonic forces, but on Mars it is thought that the release of melted, subsurface ice created the terrain. Large channels, like Tiu Valles, usually originate from regions of chaos.