Circle the area on this map
B. An examination of a meteorite found in Antarctica and believed to be from Mars showed the presence of tiny "ovoids" which may actually be fossil remnants of tiny bacteria. If so, they are 100 times smaller than any bacteria microfossils found on Earth. The "face" and "canals" seen on Mars' surface are simply natural formations causing optical illusions, scientists say.
D. Olympus Mons is a volcano nearly 14 miles high, making it the highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System. The planet also has a gigantic canyon system -- Valles Marineris -- that stretches a distance equivalent to the distance from New York to Los Angeles. Arizona's Grand Canyon could easily fit into one of the side canyons of this great chasm.
A. At present, Mars is too cold and its atmosphere too thin to allow liquid water to exist at the surface for long. There's ice close to the surface and more water frozen in the polar ice caps, but the quantity of water required to carve Mars's great channels and flood plains is not evident on -- or near -- the surface today.
D. Iron oxide is also called rust, and hematite is the mineral form of iron oxide. Periodically, the soil of Mars is stirred up into great dust storms engulfing the entire planet. The effects of these storms are dramatic, including giant dunes, wind streaks, and wind-carved features.