by aichip » Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:02 pm
It would come as no surprise if it started as a rift from the planet cooling, but then was eroded heavily by the seas retreating on the surface. We could then see how its features would make perfect sense.
First, the non-moving crust (having no plate tectonics) would cool and crack, creating a rift. Then the water entering the crack would strike lava (and this is known to happen on Earth even today, look at the Red Sea in the last month) and would boil and create a great deal of erosion.
Now, the cooling, sinking area would have the effect of drawing more water flow into the area as it shrank and you get the many tributaries that lead into the valley.
Just looking at the processes we see here, it is easy to explain this feature. After all, anyone who knows about gravitation and the Roche limit would also know that a passing planet or asteroid could not create this valley without creating far worse and more detectable side effects.
It would come as no surprise if it started as a rift from the planet cooling, but then was eroded heavily by the seas retreating on the surface. We could then see how its features would make perfect sense.
First, the non-moving crust (having no plate tectonics) would cool and crack, creating a rift. Then the water entering the crack would strike lava (and this is known to happen on Earth even today, look at the Red Sea in the last month) and would boil and create a great deal of erosion.
Now, the cooling, sinking area would have the effect of drawing more water flow into the area as it shrank and you get the many tributaries that lead into the valley.
Just looking at the processes we see here, it is easy to explain this feature. After all, anyone who knows about gravitation and the Roche limit would also know that a passing planet or asteroid could not create this valley without creating far worse and more detectable side effects.