Valles Marineris

Image Title: Valles Marineris
Source: Viking Orbiters

Description

This image, which takes us from Noctis Labyrinthus in the west (image bottom) to Aureum Chaos in the east (image top), spans approximately one-quarter (90 degrees latitude) of the Martian globe. Over 4,000 kilometers long, Vallis Marineris would split the United States in half if super-imposed on our globe. Visible at the extreme bottom of the image are two of the Tharsis volcanoes: Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons. Valles Marineris is truely the grandest of canyons.

Due to the drastic reduction in size, necessary to show the image here and to minimize download time, much of the detail of the image is lost. I also rotated the image 90 counterclockwise so that north is to the left and east is at the top.

Image Processing

All work on this image was performed in Adobe Photoshop. The image of Valles Marineris is a composite of a large number of Viking orbiter images. The full size version of this picture is 18.5 inches wide by 6.8 inches tall at 300 ppi. The colors used to create this image were selected subjectively. Extensive processing was performed to eliminate the joints between the separate images used to create this composite. Additional processing was done in order to give the final print version the feel of a hand drawn and colored map.

Wallpaper Download

Because I had to reduce and compress the full image so much in order to have it fit on this page, I decided to make available a highly-compressed, but full size wallpaper version of a small segment of the image. The wallpaper version is centered on Ophir Chasma and Candor Chasma. Note that this wallpaper is made available for your personal use only. It is not to be modified or redistributed in any form by any means. All rights are retained by the artist.

Central Valles Marineris, 1280 x 1024 Wallpaper Image