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Physical Features on Mars

Physical Features on Mars. Check your knowledge--. Northerners have cold days in January because:. (a) the earth is farthest from the Sun in January. (b) the orbital velocity of Earth is greatest in Jan. (c) the Sun is lower in the sky in January. (d) El Nino is always strongest in January.

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Physical Features on Mars

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  1. Physical Features on Mars www.assignmentpoint.com

  2. Check your knowledge-- Northerners have cold days in January because: (a) the earth is farthest from the Sun in January (b) the orbital velocity of Earth is greatest in Jan. (c) the Sun is lower in the sky in January (d) El Nino is always strongest in January ANSWER: (c) www.assignmentpoint.com

  3. Physical Features of Mars • The Martian Surface as revealed by the Mariners, Vikings • - craters • - volcanoes • - plains • Evidence for Water on Mars • - geological • - chemical • The Martian Atmosphere www.assignmentpoint.com

  4. Fast Facts on Mars: • size = 5974 km/4200 miles • ~53% Earth’s size • mass = 6.5 x 1023 kg or • 0.1 Earth’s mass • density = 3900 kg/m3 • (Earth’s density = 5510 kg/m3) • gravity/physics will be • different on Mars, i.e., mts., • activity in planet’s core www.assignmentpoint.com

  5. Changes in surface coloring: thought once to be vegetation!! www.assignmentpoint.com

  6. Mariners 6 and 7 Fly by of Mars on 31 Jul 1969 - came within 2,130 miles of Mars - pictures of ~20% surface (missed important volcanic features) - sent back ~80 photos (Mar. 6) and ~120 photos (Mar. 7) Mariners 6 and 7 had scientfic instruments to study Martian atmosphere: - composition, pressure, density, and temperature - two cameras - infrared spectrometer - ultraviolet spectrometer www.assignmentpoint.com

  7. Martian surface covered with craters! - surface isn’t smooth (as historical observations thought) - similar to Moon surface (being studied simultaneously) - must be old: peak in impacts ~3.8 billion years ago - difficult to see from Earth, but Mars’ thin atmosphere - many gave up hope for seeing “water”/ “life” on Mars www.assignmentpoint.com

  8. Mariner 9 – first ORBITER spacecraft!! www.assignmentpoint.com

  9. Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet • - arrived at Mars 14 November 1971 • - orbited Mars for more than a year • Major dust storm on Mars when Mariner 9 arrived! • surface was not visible for an entire month • however, the cones of major volcanoes (new discovery) were visible www.assignmentpoint.com

  10. Craters weren’t all that was found on Mars!! Even though dust covered, there were several ‘crater-like’ features visible rising above the dust... Picture from Mariner 9 during the dust storm (ignore black dots) Carl Sagan took a polaroid of the TV screen in the headquarters of Mariner 9 – he rushed into a group of scientists in the next room and they realized that these were volcanic calderas!! www.assignmentpoint.com

  11. Mariner 9’s Mars Milestones • 349 days in orbit (circled Mars twice daily for a year) • Mariner 9 transmitted 7,329 images, covering over 80% of Mars' surface • lowest altitude images distance of spacecraft ~900 miles above surface • An infrared radiometer was included to detect volcanic activity • Mars' tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, were also photographed. Channels on the flanks of the volcano Hecates Tholus. Various radial channels have been interpreted as erosional ash channels, lava channels or channels eroded by fluvial processes. Mariner 9 narrow angle camera. www.assignmentpoint.com

  12. The images revealed structures resembling river beds Extinct volcanic activity! Olympus Mons – 3x as high as volcanoes on Earth www.assignmentpoint.com

  13. Valles Marineris – picture from Mariner Valles Marineris - system of canyons over 4,000 km (2,500 miles) - revived people’s interest in possible water/life www.assignmentpoint.com

  14. Valles Marineris - “Grand Canyon of Mars” • streches for at least 2500 miles (NYC  LA) • “rift valley” – region broken by crust motions earlier in Mars’ history • signs of river erosion in early history of Mars (3-4 Billion yrs ago) like Grand Canyon www.assignmentpoint.com

  15. Viking 1 and 2 – Orbiter & Lander www.assignmentpoint.com

  16. Viking Orbiter • This image is a mosaic of the • Schiaparelli hemisphere of Mars. • The center of this image is near • the impact crater Schiaparelli, • 450 kilometers (280 miles) across!. • Bright white areas to the south, • including the Hellas impact basin • at extreme lower right, are covered • by carbon dioxide frost. www.assignmentpoint.com

  17. Viking Orbiter • This image is a mosaic of the • Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars. • The center is the Valles Marineris system – 3,000 km (1,860 miles) long and up to 8 km (5 miles) deep. • Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain and north-central canyons and run north. • Many of the channels flowed into a basin called Acidalia Planitia, which is the dark area in the extreme north. • The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 25 kilometers (16 miles) high, are visible to the west. www.assignmentpoint.com

  18. Changes in color across Mars’ Surface - first thought to be vegetation! - changes over seasons (growing seasons?) • now understood physically: • changes in the surface features (i.e. plains, volcanoes, crater beds) • changes in the surface • chemical composition (rock, soil types – e.g., basalt) determined from spectroscopy (radar) of reflected light from the surface • albedo – measure of the • reflectivity of a planet www.assignmentpoint.com

  19. Mars Global Surveyor - NASA launched in December 1996 - 6 instruments including MOC – high resolution camera MOLA – laser altimeter (first 3D look!) TES – high-resolution temperature detector Magnetic field detector How do we measure the height of features on Mars? Laser Altimeter (MOLA) bounce laser beams off surface time delay between signals gives height measure plot of Mars’ height as a function of position on the planet – North to South www.assignmentpoint.com

  20. The “Face” on Mars (Viking Image from 1976) Mars Global Surveyor (1998) www.assignmentpoint.com

  21. Radar map of Martian surface MOLA (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter) Color indicates elevation (Blue =low, red= high) Low area: Former Ocean? www.assignmentpoint.com

  22. Low elevation Northern hemisphere - Resurfaced by some process?? Volcanoes Hellas impact basin (2000 km) Valles Marineris (2500km) High elevation southern hemisphere Many more craters! “Older surface”? Mars Topographic Map (MOLA radar 1998/99) www.assignmentpoint.com

  23. Mars’ Crustal Dichotomy = noticeable differences between N and S hemispheres - Altitudes (N lowlands, S highlands) - Cratering (age of surfaces?) Various Explanations: - large impact (asteroid) on Mars - plate tectonics (although Mars too small for hot core) - volcanic eruptions which smoothed parts of the planet www.assignmentpoint.com

  24. Hellas Impact Basin • 2000 km diameter, 9 km deep! • Probably formed by asteroid impact • Debris from collision would cover US with layer 3 km thick www.assignmentpoint.com

  25. Olympus Mons – largest volcano in S.S. • rises 15 miles above • surrounding flat plains • three times as tall as • Mt. Everest • “hot spot” volcanism • like in Hawaiian Islands • (magma lifts up underneath) • caldera is ~70 km across www.assignmentpoint.com

  26. Tharsis Rise – cluster of large volcanoes • near Olympus Mons • blue/white clouds often • seen over these volcanoes • these clouds result when: • warm air (water) rises • cools at the high altitude • - freezes into cloud www.assignmentpoint.com

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