The European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter recently captured a view of the Cydonia region, site of the famous “Face on Mars.” NASA’s Viking I revealed this ruddy mug to us back in July 1976.
This region isn’t only of interest to sci-fi fans and alien life-form speculators, but to planetary geologists. In areas adjacent to Cydonia, gently sloping areas surrounding hills or reliefs, formations known as “debris aprons,” are frequently found. They form at the feet of such remnant mounds and probably consist of a mixture of rocky debris and ice. In Cydonia, aprons are often missing in smaller massifs. Scientists believe that talus formations, sloping masses of rock debris at the base of cliffs, and landslides, control debris-apron formation. Cydonia, between the southern highlands and the northern plains, possesses broad valleys and mounds, known as massifs.