1 / 15

Surface Features on Mars

Surface Features on Mars. Dr. Joshua Bandfield Mars Space Flight Facility Arizona State University. Mars has Many Types of Surface Features. Impact Craters Volcanic Features Fluvial/Water-Related Features Layers Aeolian/Wind Features. 2. All THEMIS visible images are ~18 km across.

thomas-kirby
Download Presentation

Surface Features on Mars

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Surface Features on Mars Dr. Joshua Bandfield Mars Space Flight Facility Arizona State University

  2. Mars has Many Types of Surface Features • Impact Craters • Volcanic Features • Fluvial/Water-Related Features • Layers • Aeolian/Wind Features 2

  3. All THEMIS visible images are ~18 km across Crater Ejecta • Material that gets thrown out of a crater when a meteorite hits the surface • Sometimes looks rougher than the surrounding terrain Most THEMIS images are taken during the afternoon and the sun is shining from the left side of the image 7 Crater in Elysium Planitia 18N, 136E

  4. Rampart Craters • Have distinct ejecta that looks like it flowed across the surface • Probably due to ice or liquid water in the subsurface when crater formed Rampart Crater in Acidalia Planitia 28N, 319E 8

  5. Crater Morphology Central Peak • Morphology (shape) will look different based on age and size: • Large craters: Central peaks, rings and/or slumping walls • Old craters: Eroded and have ‘softer’ features • 3 ‘types’ of craters: • Preserved • Modified • Destroyed Slumps 9 Arabia Terra 18N, 6E

  6. Orcus Patera 16N, 183E Ares Vallis 16N, 330E Modified Craters • Craters can be eroded or modified by: • Wind • Water • Lava 10

  7. Volcanic Features • Many types of surface features are associated with volcanoes: • Volcanic structures • Lava flows • Calderas • Lava Tubes/Channels • Olympus Mons (shown here) is a shield-like volcano the size of the state of Arizona! 13 Olympus Mons 18N, 230E (Wide Angle)

  8. Alba Patera Olympus Mons Ascraeus Mons Pavonis Mons Arsia Mons Volcanics on Mars • Volcanic activity has dominated the surface of Mars • Tharsis is a huge (1/3 of the planet) volcanic region that consists of 3 shield-like volcanoes • Olympus Mons, Alba Patera and other small volcanoes are evident in this area 14

  9. Lava Flows • There are many lava flows on Mars of all ages • These are similar to lava flows that we see in places like Hawaii, but can be much larger! Daedalia Planum -26N, 232E 15

  10. Apollinaris Patera Caldera Multiple basins in the caldera Channels along the flank Lat: 9.3 S Lon: 174.4 E THEMIS Day IR Mosaic 18 6

  11. Dust Devil Tracks • Dust devils pick dust up in to the atmosphere • They can act like vacuum cleaners and leave dust-free tracks behind them Argyre Planitia -47N, 318E 35

  12. Wind Streaks • Wind streaks form behind topographic features (such as crater rims) • Dust can be deposited or scoured in a wind streak 36 Syrtis Major 0N, 72E

  13. Dunes • Dunes are wind blown piles of sand • Sand dunes on Mars are often dark because they are made of basaltic sand Sand Dunes in Kaiser Crater -47N, 19E 37

  14. Surface Features on Mars • Impact Craters • Volcanic Features • Fluvial/Water-Related Features • Layers • Aeolian/Wind Features 39

  15. Mars Maps • Mars Regions • Zoom in to see details • Also see: http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2782/i2782_sh1.pdf 40

More Related