Scientists at Columbia University and Imperial College London have found that Valles Marineris, the largest canyon system in the solar system, is still tectonically active today, billions of years after it first formed.
The team traced a marsquake detected by NASA’s InSight lander to a fault deep beneath the canyon, Phys.org reported. The rocks slid sideways along the fault, according to the study.
Lead author Jung-Hun Song, a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said: “Valles Marineris is one of the most spectacular geological structures anywhere in the solar system, but until now we didn’t know for certain that its faults are still active.”
The finding means ancient faults can stay weak enough to rupture under stresses acting on Mars today, and opens new possibilities for spotting seismic activity on other planetary bodies long considered geologically dead.
Source: Phys.org
