This month, ESA's Mars Express takes us to Shalbatana Vallis: a fascinating martian valley surrounded by signs of water, lava, craters and chaos.
We visited this part of the Red Planet in October 2025, releasing a Mars Express video journey that followed this gently meandering channel from its beginning (the highland region of Xanthe Terra) to its end (the smoother lowlands of Chryse Planitia).
Shalbatana Vallis formed around 3. 5 billion years ago, when huge quantities of groundwater rose up to Mars's surface.
