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Mars: Third Order Landscapes

Geography 441/541 F/19 Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue. Mars: Third Order Landscapes. Mars: Third Order Landscapes. The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes The first order was the great crustal dichotomy: Northern lowlands: ~ 1/3 Southern highlands: ~2/3

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Mars: Third Order Landscapes

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  1. Geography 441/541 F/19 Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue Mars: Third Order Landscapes C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  2. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Third Order Landscapes • The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes • The first order was the great crustal dichotomy: • Northern lowlands: ~ 1/3 • Southern highlands: ~2/3 • Tharsis straddling the dichotomy and covering ~1/4 • The second order was the conspicuous large features: • The largest craters: Hellas, Argyre, Isidis, Utopia • Elysium volcanic rise • Valles Marineris system of rifts and landslides • The polar ice caps • Syrtis Major windswept basalt plateau • Chryse Trough possible fluvial drainage system • Kasei Valles outflow channels

  3. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Third Order Landscapes • The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes • The third order is what we're working on now: • This is a cross-cutting category that addresses the “geological column” or relative ages of all Martian landscapes in terms of the three regional units that gave the three-part sequences of Mars’ evolution their names: • The Noachian Period • The Hesperian Period • The Amazonian Period

  4. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Third Order Landscapes • Noachian Era was discussed a while back • Oldest: • ~4.6 – 3.8 or 3.7 Ga • Earliest accretion, melting, differentiation of the planet • Era of bombardment (Earth’s Hadæan times) • Establishment of and shutting down of planetary magnetic field • Some geological activity: • Valley networks • Volcanic activity (low viscosity flows, small pateræ) • Oceans? • Examples: • Noachis Terra – Terra Tyrrhena • Aonia Terra – Terra Sabæa • Terra Sirenum – Margaritifer Terra • Terra Cimmeria – Xanthe Terra • Promethei Terra –Tempe Terra

  5. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Third Order Landscapes • Hesperian Period was our last topic • Intermediate ages: • Most commonly from ~3.75 – 2.9 billion Ga • Intense geological activity: • Edifice vulcanism, eventually shield vulcanism • Folding and wrinkle ridges (compression) • Faulting and formation of linear grabens in extensional zones • Gigantic outwash floods far past Noachian valley network scale • Period in which climate began to dry out; dustiness increased; water evaporated, froze, sank into permafrost; acidic geochemistry • Examples: • Hesperia Planum – Vastitas Borealis • Malea Planum – Isidis Planitia Basin Deposits • Lunæ Planum – Syrtis Major Planum • Chryse Planitia – Solis Planum • Sisyphi Planum – Argentea Planum

  6. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Third Order Landscapes • Amazonian Period is our newest topic • Youngest: • Most commonly from ~3.0 – 2.9 Ga to present • Much more peaceful geologically: • Shield vulcanism winds down • Oxidative geochemistry dominates • Some subsurface water releases and gullying • Some meteoroids continue to smack down • May be obliquity-related ice ages • Extent and recency of these are energetically debated • Examples: • Amazonis Planitia – Arcadia Planitia • Utopia Planitia – Elysium Planitia • Dædalia Planum – North and South Polar Deposits • Acidalia Planitia – Lava flows on Tharsis & Elysium rises

  7. Amazonian Landscapes Amazonis Planitia: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  8. Amazonian Landscapes Amazonis Planitia: MRO HiRISE C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  9. Amazonian Landscapes Elysium Planitia: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  10. Amazonian Landscapes Elysium Planitia: • pack ice? MEX HRSC → • Rahway Vallis \ C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  11. Amazonian Landscapes Elysium Planitia: Cerberus Fossæ C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  12. Amazonian Landscapes Utopia Planitia floor: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  13. Amazonian Landscapes Utopia surfaces C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  14. Amazonian Landscapes Utopia surfaces C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  15. Amazonian Landscapes Acidalia Planitia: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  16. Amazonian Landscapes Acidalia Planitia: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  17. Amazonian Landscapes Acidalia Planitia: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  18. Amazonian Landscapes Planum Boreum: North Polar Layered Deposits (SHARAD) C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  19. Amazonian Landscapes Planum Boreum: North Polar Layered Deposits (HiRISE) C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  20. Amazonian Landscapes North & South Polar Layered Deposits C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  21. Amazonian Landscapes Planum Australe: South Polar Layered Deposits C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  22. Amazonian Landscapes Planum Australe: South Polar Layered Deposits (HRSC) C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  23. Amazonian Landscapes Planum Australe: South Polar Layered Deposits (HiRISE) C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  24. Amazonian Landscapes Arcadia Planitia: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  25. Amazonian Landscapes Arcadia Planitia C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  26. Amazonian Landscapes Arcadia Planitia http://www.ingo-paulussen.de/pictures.htm C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  27. Amazonian Landscapes Lavas of Tharsis: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  28. Amazonian Landscapes Lavas of Tharsis and Dædalia C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  29. Amazonian Landscapes Lavas of Tharsis and Dædalia C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  30. Amazonian Landscapes Lavas of Elysium: C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  31. Amazonian Landscapes Lavas of Elysium Rise C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  32. Amazonian Landscapes Lavas of Elysium Rise C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  33. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Third Order Landscapes • The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes • Thus concludes our consideration of third order landscapes: • These are large regions that are subtly different from one another, marked by differences in crater density, crater alteration, and geomorphic evidence of processes that dominated particular periods on Mars • I used this scale to discuss and illustrate the three major periods of Mars' geological history • The Noachian Period • The Hesperian Period • The Amazonian Period • On to the finer scale features of the fourth order

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