See: This is what a “journey” through the “labyrinth of night” of Mars looks like

The European Space Agency (ESA) has released an animation describing what could be a flyby of one of Mars’ most striking regions, Noctis Labyrinthus, which in Latin means “labyrinth of night.” The video was created by animation of thousands of images taken by the probe’s high-resolution stereo camera. Mars Express, which has been mapping the Red Planet for 20 years.

As the European Space Agency published on its official website, the place is located between the huge Martian “Grand Canyon” (Valles Marineris) and the highest volcano in the solar system (the Tharsis region), which is Noctis Labyrinthus. An extensive system of deep, steep valleys extending for about 1,190 km (About the length of Italy here on Earth).

The video appears Flight over the eastern part of Noctis Labyrinthus viewed by the high-resolution stereo camera From Mars Express and offers a perspective view of the landscape. Extreme volcanism in the nearby Tharsis region is responsible for the formation of these features. These volcanoes caused large areas of the Martian crust to bend upward, stretch, and undergo tectonic pressure, causing it to thin, crack, and sink.

The highest plateaus seen represent the original surface level before pieces of the surface fell. The canyons and valleys crossed are up to 30 km wide and 6 km deep. In many places, giant landslides can be seen covering the slopes and floors of the valley, while other valley slopes show large fields of dunes formed by sand blown down and up by Martian winds.

Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2003, taking images of the surface, mapping its minerals, studying its fragile atmosphere, probing beneath its crust, and exploring how different phenomena interact in the Martian environment.