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Message: <blockquote data-quote="InvaderSquoosh" data-source="post: 653897" data-attributes="member: 4529">Well, that stuff is in my realm as well. More precisely, in Planetary Science.Turns out that the height of mountains is bounded by the size of the planet. The more massive the planet, the shorter the mountains can be. Conversely, the smaller the planet, the higher mountains can be. Earth has a theoretical limit of 15 miles for mountain height from simple order of magnitude physics. The reality is much lower than that as Everest is roughly 5 miles tall. On Mars, features like Olympus Mons are more than easily accomodated due to the lower gravity.If you plop an atmosphere like our own on Mars and somehow kept it there, these huge geographical features won't go away. There will be some erosion from air and water currents, but it wouldn't change things too dramatically. You'll be able to enjoy a Grand Canyon that spans half the globe with parts that are many miles deep! It's possible that the air pressure at the bottom of this canyon can yield some unique ecosystems. Also, there might be a few mountains, or even a continent that reach heights where no normal creature can venture due to lack of oxygen.This reminds me of the Gandalara series. I won't give the plot away though...</blockquote>