Terraforming Landscapes

Shown here are some vistas which show, on a smaller scale, some effects of flooding on Mars. These images use height-fields obtained from www.space-graphics.com, and were rendered using Terragen or POV-Ray. For Terragen, the height-fields were reduced from 2048x2048 pixels to 513x513 pixels for use as the terrain file.

Where I have had no accurate guide as to absolute elevations, some liberties have been taken with regard to the amount of vertical exaggeration used. That is to say, same landscapes may be unrealistically lumpy- or smooth...

Shores of Olympus: Still about 100km away, Olympus Mons rises from the edge of the Boreal Sea. This view is from the north-west. The cliff face which surrounds the shield is about 5km high; the total diameter is around 600km (73k)

Afternoon: late in the day over Labyrinthus Noctis, looking west. In the foreground, the view is about 150km across. Pavonis Mons is visible on the horizon, right of centre. This area is at the western limit of Valles Marineris (93k)

Ma'adim Vallis (94k)

New growth: a cloudy day over a channel in the region of Xanthe Terra (59k)