One reason planetary scientists find Mamers Valles interesting is that it may preserve evidence of multiple geological processes like ancient flowing water, lava flows and even glacial or ice-related activity and therefore provides insight into how ice and erosion shaped the Martian surface over billions of years. The valley floor contains long linear ridges and textures that resemble debris-covered glaciers on Earth. Many researchers think these features formed when ice slowly flowed through the canyon and became coated with rock and dust. Ice is also present adjacent to steep cliffs and hillsides, where rocky debris from slopes covers and protects the ice from sublimation into the atmosphere (see annotated image).