Dao Vallis is a valley on
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
that appears to have been carved by water. It runs southwestward into
Hellas Planitia
Hellas Planitia is a plain located within the huge, roughly circular impact basin Hellas located in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. Hellas is the third- or fourth-largest known impact crater in the Solar System. The basin floor i ...
from the southern slopes of the volcano
Hadriacus Mons, and has been identified as an
outflow channel
Outflow channels are extremely long, wide swathes of scoured ground on Mars. They extend many hundreds of kilometers in length and are typically greater than one kilometer in width. They are thought to have been carved by huge outburst floods.
...
. It and its
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
,
Niger Vallis
Niger Vallis is a valley on Mars that appears to have been carved by water. It has been identified as an outflow channel. It merges with Dao Vallis which runs southwestward into Hellas Planitia from the volcanic Hadriacus Mons. Like Dao, it was ...
, extend for about .
It is named after the
Thai word for
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
, and it was proposed as a potential landing site for the 2012
Curiosity rover
''Curiosity'' is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. ''Curiosity'' was launched from Cape Canaveral (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and la ...
of the
Mars Science Laboratory
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The overall objectives include investigati ...
mission.
In the fictional 2007 Canadian miniseries ''
Race to Mars'', it is the landing site for ''Gagarin'', the lander.
Origin
Dao Vallis begins near a large volcano, Hadriacus Mons, so it is thought to have received water when hot magma melted huge amounts of ice in the frozen ground. Much of this water may have been released in very large "outburst floods". The partially circular depressions on the left side of the channel in the image below suggests that groundwater sapping also contributed water more gradually.
Dao Vallis (Released 7 August 2002)
/ref>
Image:Dao Vallis.JPG, Section of Dao Vallis, as seen by THEMIS
In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; grc, Θέμις, Themis, justice, law, custom) is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, fai ...
. Click on image to see relationship of Dao Vallis to other nearby features.
See also
*Harmakhis Vallis
Harmakhis Vallis is a valley near Hellas Planitia, Mars. It has been identified as an outflow channel, the site of catastrophic floods of water during Mars' past.
Gullies are also common on the wall of Harmakhis Vallis, as seen the image below ...
*Outflow channels
Outflow channels are extremely long, wide swathes of scoured ground on Mars. They extend many hundreds of kilometers in length and are typically greater than one kilometer in width. They are thought to have been carved by huge outburst floods.
...
*Reull Vallis
Reull Vallis is a valley on Mars that appears to have been carved by water. It runs westward into Hellas Planitia. It is named after the Gaelic word for planet. It is found in the Hellas quadrangle.
Lineated Floor Deposits
On the floors of s ...
References
External links
Google Mars map centred on Dao Vallis
Valleys and canyons on Mars
Hellas quadrangle
{{crater-stub