A Martian Landscape on Earth
text by Jose M. Fernandez Gimeno photography by Victoria Dye
Undulating walls sculpted by the water centuries ago as if by the hands of a talented abstract artist; a colorful palette, partial to the reds that sails from golden to ultraviolet, shunning the brownish meanders that loom up out like shadows from where the light does not dare to reach.
This ancient basin recalls a Martian landscape; however, it is found on the Earth, specifically in Page, Arizona within Navajo territory. It is known as the Antelope Canyon and it could be considered a lesser known minor relative of the Grand Canyon. Both belong to the area called The Great Basin on the southeast of the United States. The Great Basin is a huge plateau that spreads out mainly over the states of Nevada and Utah, and partially over California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming and Arizona, covering a 200.000 square-mile area. The Great Basin includes the watersheds of the Sacramento-San Joaquin and Klamath rivers on the west, the watershed of the Columbia-Snake on the north and the watershed of the Colorado-Green on the southeast.
The Antelope Canyon splits into two sections, which are separated by several miles of arid and plain terrain: The upper Antelope and the lower Antelope. These types of rock formations are known as Slot Canyons because of their deep and narrow cuts. Dr. Alan D. Howard, a geologist and a Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, explains the creation process that occurs in such formations: “Streams tend to erode both downwards (for example, creating the Grand Canyon) as well as laterally, creating wide floodplains. When streams are very steep and cutting through resistant rock, they have a greater capacity to cut down than cut laterally”, carving, as a result, these outstanding canyons.
Struck by the sight of this wonder of nature the curious mind will inevitably wonder about which variables intervened in the creation of such imposing wonderful walls. The wide range of red tonalities in the walls depends on the intensity and the angle with which the sunlight beams streak in them. Such coloration is due to small amounts of iron oxide mixed in with the sand grains. This iron oxide is, essentially, the same as the pigments used in many red and yellow paints.
There is also an explanation for the rock’s smooth and winding shape: “Streams have a natural tendency to meander, and those meanders tend to migrate downstream through time. This is true whether the stream is on a wide floodplain like the Mississippi River or in a narrow canyon. But in a narrow canyon the river cannot meander with the same amplitude but it does so enough to carve small alcoves in the canyon walls. As the canyon cuts down, the meander pattern shift, so that the alcoves shift as well”, says Dr Howard.
The Great Basin, extremely dry nowadays, shows evidence of wetter conditions in the past. Dr. Howard investigates the patterns of erosion that emerged in this area as a result of the action of water during the Pleistocene (Geologic period that ranges between 1.8 million and 10.000 years ago). Then, he uses those patterns to validate and calibrate a flow routing and lake simulation model. With these data Dr. Howard has created a model that can help interpret the fluvial processes that acted on the Martian surface at a time when water could be found in abundance on the surface of the red planet. So far, interpretation of images taken by the Mariner and Viking Orbiters and the Viking and Pathfinder Landers was the only source of knowledge about how landforms had evolved on Mars. Geomorphic and mineralogical samples taken in recent missions to our neighbor planet have strengthened a hypothesis in support of an early “wet Mars”. Therefore, nowadays, the inquiries are focused on investigating the magnitude and duration of those environmental conditions that could support surface liquid required to create observed channels and other fluvial features.
Nirgal Valles on Mars is probably the closest example of a deep, narrow canyon; similar to the Antelope Canyon on Earth.
This ancient basin recalls a Martian landscape; however, it is found on the Earth, specifically in Page, Arizona within Navajo territory. It is known as the Antelope Canyon and it could be considered a lesser known minor relative of the Grand Canyon. Both belong to the area called The Great Basin on the southeast of the United States. The Great Basin is a huge plateau that spreads out mainly over the states of Nevada and Utah, and partially over California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming and Arizona, covering a 200.000 square-mile area. The Great Basin includes the watersheds of the Sacramento-San Joaquin and Klamath rivers on the west, the watershed of the Columbia-Snake on the north and the watershed of the Colorado-Green on the southeast.