Terrestrial Worlds 3

Mars

Mars basics

4th planet from Sun (1.5 AU), 7th largest world

Orbit - 1.88 Earth years
Sidereal rotation - 25 hours
Surface gravity- 3.71 m/s2 (39% of Earth)
0.007 bars of pressure (1/100 x Earth)

96% CO2 3.5% N2 < 1% others

Temperatures- 13 oF in day (max. recorded 63 oF)
- -135 oF at night (min. -200 oF at poles)
Too cold for liquid water (only ice or gas)
Spacecraft- Most visited world (USA,Russia,Europe,India)

Map of Mars

Color height map of Mars

(Red-high, Blue-low)

Mars Polar Caps -Solid CO2

North

South

Mars- Volcanism
Two main types of Volcanism:

Older- fluid lavas, flood plains and flattish volcanoes

(forms the older surfaces on Mars)
Younger- large shield volcanoes

(Tharsis region and Elysium region).

Note. The volcanoes pour out as much lava as the
Hawaiian islands, but without plate tectonics it piles
up in 1 place, making giant volcanoes.

Tharsis Bulge
Volcanic region

Olympus Mons
Largest Volcano in
the Solar System

Mars tectonics Tharsis extension faulting

Tharsis
extension
faulting
Noctis
Labyrinthus
and Valles
Marineris

Valles Marineris
Tectonic cracking 3000 miles long

Valles Marineris -3D View

7 miles deep,

widening by surface processes

Mars Cratering
Surfaces old in southern highlands
Middle aged in the Northern lowlands
Largest craters are in south, from age of
Heavy Bombardment:
Argyre basin ~1120 miles across
Hellas ~1430 miles across

Mars Cratering - Hellas basin

Mars
Cratering
- Hellas is
over 9km
deep

Mars Surface
Processes Wind
Fields of sand dunes

Mars Surface Processes - Water

Water channels seen across the surface

Mars Surface Processes - Water

Water channels seen across the surface

Landing sites

Gusev Crater &

Maadim Vallis
Spirits landing site

Opportunity at Sinus Meridiani

- A dried up lake?

 Sedimentary strata and rock chemistry provide

evidence of former running water on Mars.

High sulfur & chlorine levels- salt pan from dried lake.
Blueberries -spheres of hematite made in water.

Curiosity at
Gale Crater

Surround view within Gale Crater

 Fine mudstones above

cemented sandstones

The Missing Water -Underground Ice?

Impacts into ice-rich surfaces, could produce muddy craters

Changing Gullies In Real Time

Dark streaks are from salty water

seasonally leaking out of the crater wall

The Martian Atmosphere

0.007 bars of pressure (1/100 x Earth)
96% CO2 3.5% N2 < 1% others
Temperatures13 oF in day (max. recorded 63 oF)
-135 oF at night (min. -200 oF at poles)
Current pressure/temperature conditions
are too low for stable liquid water. Water
found as gas or ice.

The Martian Atmosphere

Amosphere is controlled
by the polar ice
Winter -CO2 freezes on
pole.
Summer -CO2 boils off
pole.
Gas moves across Mars
from the winter to
summer pole and back

Pink Skies

&
Blue Sunsets

Climate Change on Mars

Mars has not had
widespread
surface water for 3
billion years
Greenhouse effect
probably kept
surface warmer
before that
Somehow Mars
lost most of its
atmosphere

 Traces of magnetic field only found on oldest rocks.

Younger rocks no field.
Mars once had magnetic field early on, but not today.

 Magnetic field may have preserved early Martian

atmosphere.
Solar wind may have stripped atmosphere away after
field decreased because of interior cooling.
If much water and carbon dioxide was lost, the Martian
greenhouse effect would decrease and the temperatures
would be too low for liquid water.

Which of the following is not a

similarity between Mars and
Earth today?
A.The lengths of their days are similar.
B.They both have polar ice caps.
C.They both have flowing rivers.
D.They both have shield volcanoes
2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Should we land on Mars and

search for life?
A. Yes, if we found evidence of life it would have important
scientific implications.
B. Yes, if we found evidence of life it would have major
scientific, philosophical, and religious implications.
C. No, it's too expensive.
D. No, at best we're likely to find fossils, and they aren't
interesting.

2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Summary of Terrestrials
Contain the processes in differing amounts, resulting in
wildly different surfaces

Impact
Cratering

Volcanism

Tectonics

Surface
Processes