Here are some of the specifics of the terrain that this astronomer infers to be made from an actual civilization:

At the end of the 19th century, the Italian astronomer, Giovanni Schiaparelli, noted markings running down the planet. He connected them in a vast global network. He imagined they were immense structures designed to carry melting snow from the poles to the dry interior. The American astronomer Percival Lowell saw in these canals the future of Earth. Here was a dying civilization trying to rescue itself from a global ecological crisis.

We now know that surface temperatures average -50 degree Celsius. Its thin atmosphere is dominated by Carbon dioxide.

And yet Mars remains a world imbued with possibilities. We now scour its surface for water that may have once spawned living organisms, for potential landing spots for future astronauts, and for minerals to support a permanent human presence.

Is this astronomer right?  Who really knows for sure but it makes you think.  Feel free to comment with your ideas.