Dreaming of a Better World

A series of troughs and layered mesas in the Gorgonum Chaos region of the Martian southern hemisphere appears in the chaotic terrain. Gullies proposed to have been formed by seeping ground water emanate from a specific layer near the tops of trough walls, particularly on south-facing slopes. Such a layer is called an aquifer, and this one appears to be present less than a few hundred meters (few hundred yards) beneath the surface in this region. This image was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor camera on January 22, 2000.