 Hebes Chasma based onTHEMIS day-time image | |
| Coordinates | 1°06′S76°12′W / 1.1°S 76.2°W /-1.1; -76.2 |
|---|---|
| Length | 319 km |
| Width | 130 km |
| Depth | 6 km |
Hebes Chasma is an isolatedchasma just north of theValles Marineris canyon system ofMars. It is centered at 1 degree southern latitude and 76 degrees western longitude, just between the Martian equator and the Valles Marineris system, just east of theTharsis region.
Hebes Chasma is a completely closed depression in the surface of Mars, with no outflows to the nearbyEchus Chasma to the west, Perrotin Crater to the southwest, orValles Marineris to the south. Its maximum extents are approximately 320 km east to west, 130 km north to south, and 5 to 6 km in depth. At the center of the depression isHebes Mensa, a largemesa rising some 5 km off the valley floor, nearly as high as the surrounding terrain. This central plateau makes Hebes Chasma a unique valley in Martian geography.
The word Hebes comes fromHebe, the goddess of youth, who was the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe was the wife ofHercules.[1]
The walls of Hebes Chasma weather differently than the slopes on the mesa on its floor. Also, studies of the thermal inertia suggest that the mesa and the walls of the canyon are made of different substances. Thermal inertia is how long the surface holds heat. For example, rocky areas will stay warmer than dust at night. One popular idea that explains the difference between the depression's walls and the mesa slopes is that the mesa was formed from material that accumulated in a lake.[2]
