vallis (plural valles) is the latin word for valley. it is used in planetary geology for the naming of landform features on other planets. vallis (plural valles) was used for old river valleys that were discovered on mars, when probes were first sent to mars. the viking orbiters caused a revolution in our ideas about water on mars; huge river valleys were found in many areas. space craft cameras showed that floods of water broke through dams, carved deep valleys, eroded grooves into bedrock, and traveled thousands of kilometers.raeburn, p. 1998. uncovering the secrets of the red planet mars. national geographic society. washington d.c.moore, p. et al. 1990. the atlas of the solar system. mitchell beazley publishers ny, ny. some valles on mars (mangala vallis, athabasca vallis, granicus vallis, and tinjar valles) clearly begin at graben. on the other hand, some of the large outflow channels begin in rubble-filled low areas called chaos or chaotic terrain. it has been suggested that massive amounts of water were trapped under pressure beneath a thick cryosphere (layer of frozen ground), then the water was suddenly released, perhaps when the cryosphere was broken by a fault.carr, m. 1979. formation of martian flood features by release of water from confined aquifers. j. geophys. res. 84: 2995-3007.isbn 978-0-521-87501-0 hanna, j. and r. phillips. 2005. tectonic pressurization of aquifers in the formation of mangala and athabasca valles on mars. lpsc xxxvi. abstract 2261. ==nirgal vallis and sapping== nirgal vallis is one of the longest valley networks on mars. it is so large that it is found on more than one quadrangle. scientists are not sure about how all the ancient river valleys were formed. there is evidence that instead of rain or snow, the water that formed the valleys originated underground. one mechanism that has been advanced is sapping.http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20030916a in sapping, the ground just gives away as water comes out. sapping is common in some desert areas in america's southwest. sapping forms alcoves and stubby tributaries. these features are visible in the picture from the coprates quadrangle of nigal vallis taken with mars odyssey's themis. image:nirgal vallis in coprates.jpg|nirgal vallis that runs in two quadrangles has features looking like those caused by sapping. picture taken with themis. image:nirgal vallis.jpg|nirgal vallis, as seen by themis. image:nirgal vallis close-up.jpg|nirgal vallis close-up, as seen by themis. == kasei valles == one of the most significant features of the lunae palus region, kasei valles, is one of the larges
Planetary_geology Valleys_and_canyons_on_Mars