Xanthe Terra is a large area on Mars, centered just north of the Martian equator. Its coordinates are 3°N 312°E / 3°N 312°E / 3; 312Coordinates: 3°N 312°E / 3°N 312°E / 3; 312 and it covers 2465 km at its broadest extent. Its name means "golden-yellow land." It is in the Lunae Palus quadrangle and the Oxia Palus quadrangle. Images from Mars Express, Mars Global Surveyor, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed ancient river valleys and deltas. The deltas show many thin layers just as deltas on Earth. Scientists speculate that features in Xanthe Terra show evidence of precipitation on early Mars.
-
Alluvial Fans in Mojave Crater, as seen by HiRISE. High ground is on the right. Branched network of channels runs from higher ground (crater rim) to lower ground.
Famous quotes containing the word terra:
“A book should contain pure discoveries, glimpses of terra firma, though by shipwrecked mariners, and not the art of navigation by those who have never been out of sight of land. They must not yield wheat and potatoes, but must themselves be the unconstrained and natural harvest of their author’s lives.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)