Situated between the southern highlands and northern lowlands, the valley is a channel formed by massive flooding which occurred in Mars’ ancient past.

Prior to the selection of Gale Crater for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover mission, Mawrth Vallis was considered as a potential landing site because of the detection of a stratigraphic section rich in clay minerals.

Clay minerals have implications for past aqueous environments as well as the potential to preserve biosignatures, making them ideal targets for the search for life on Mars.

These orbiters consist of a number of spectrometers that contribute to our knowledge of Mawrth Vallis and the rest of the Martian surface.

[4][5] Since some clays seem to drape over high and low areas, it is possible that volcanic ash landed in an open body of water.

This resolution does not provide detailed composition maps but does serve as a good baseline for understanding the makeup of martian rocks.

Mawrth Vallis has a thermal inertia that indicates the size of surface particles range from dusty to larger rocks.

Odyssey's primary purpose is to map the mineralogy of martian surface but is also used to assess potential landing sites for rovers and landers.

In addition to the onboard spectrometers, Odyssey serves as a communication relay between Earth and the rovers and landers on Mars’ surface.

The evidence for past water documented by Odyssey generated interest in landing the Mars Science Laboratory within Mawrth.

OMEGA was designed to work in collaboration with the other instruments on Mars Express, specifically the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS).

[31] CRISM's mission is to detect aqueous and hydrothermal deposits while mapping the geology, stratigraphy, and composition of the Martian surface.

Montmorillonite, an Al-smectite, and hydrated silica have similar infrared reflectance spectrums and both were detected by CRISM at Mawrth Vallis.

[33] Mawrth Vallis was also one of two finalists in the landing site selection process for the European Space Agency's future ExoMars Rover.

As Exomars Rover will look for past life indicators, it was a good candidate, but it was deemed that Oxia Planum site would provide an equally interesting science ground while being a safer place to land and explore.