This image of the Martian surface shows large valleys called
Northwestern sloped valleys (NSV's) that were created by
cataclysmic flooding in the distant past. Courtesy of NASA The
Largest Valley System in the Solar System News story originally
written on August 8, 2001 Scientists studying the features of
Mars have discovered the largest known valleys in the solar
system. These valleys and gorges lie beneath the surface of the
planet, under ash, lava, and dust, and were spotted by a
satellite in Mars' orbit that can look beneath the surface using
lasers. The name of this satellite is the Mars Global Surveyor
These giant channels were apparently formed by large amounts of
water flowing through them, as similar structures are formed on
Earth, except that to form valleys the size of these the water
flow through them would have been 50,000 times that of the
Amazon River! The scientists who completed the study say that
Mars probably experienced periods of dramatic heating caused by
volcanic activity, and this shar