C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Boldly Going Where No Geographer Has Gone Before: The Martian Classroom The Los Angeles Geographical Society (7 September 2007) Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue California State University, Long Beach Former President of the LAGS (1988)

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Vastitas Borealis  Drainage:  Valles Marineris' outflow channels, which drain into Chryse Planitia  Nanedis north of Ganges  Ares and Aram Chaos  Argyre to Aram and Ares

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Vastitas Borealis  Even better: Coastlines!?  Transition between the southern highlands and the northern lowlands is quite abrupt

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Vastitas Borealis  Even better: Coastlines!?  Terraces on the Arcadia side of Alba Patera

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Vastitas Borealis  Even better: Coastlines!?  Tim Parker’s analysis of Viking imagery

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Vastitas Borealis  Rampart craters  These unique features suggest water or ice (the wet splat effect)

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  Speaking of water: NASA Mars Odyssey, present  Orbiter instrumentation  Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS)  Enabled maps of hydrogen abundance in the upper meter or so of the Martian surface  Hydrogen abundance indicates subsurface water or ice

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  The Southern Highlands  Mostly 1-5 km above the mean Martian geoid  Versus 0-3 km below for the northern lowlands  Sharp ~1 km scarp dividing the two

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Whole different landscape: Ancient, battered terrain  Arabia Terra

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Ancient, battered terrain of the Southern Highlands  Syrtis Major Planum, volcanic province, basaltic, not dusty

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Ancient, battered terrain: Ouch!  Hellas, with Isidis and Utopia from the Northern Lowlands beyond

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Ancient, battered terrain  Noachis Terra is another old land (for which “Noachian era” named)  West of Hellas, east of Argyre  Signs of water or fluid  Channels  Softened terrain

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: First Order Landscapes  The “Orders of Relief” for Martian Landscapes  Ancient, battered terrain, worked over by fluid erosion/deposition  Noachis Terra, Holden Crater, Vallis Uzboi, HRSC

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second 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  The second order is next:  Tharsis and Elysium rises  The largest craters: Hellas, Argyre, Isidis, Utopia  Valles Marineris  The polar ice caps

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Volcanic Rises  Tharsis

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Volcanic Rises  Elysium  “Only” 6 km thick  “Only” 2,000 km across

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Volcanic Rises  Elysium  Recent volcanic activity: Hecates

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Impact Basins  Hellas Planitia  Depositional features: volcanic outflows and wrinkle ridges

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Impact Basins  Hellas Planitia  Erosional features (MGS MOC):  outflow channels Dao Vallis, Niger Vallis, and Harmakhis Vallis along Hellas’ eastern wall  ~ 1 km deep and 8-40 km wide (must have been some outflow)

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Impact Basins  Argyre Planitia  Hydraulic system

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Impact Basins  Argyre Planitia  Wind deposition: dune (HRSC)  Wind erosion: dust devils (MOC)

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Impact Basins  Isidis Planitia  Where Beagle was to land

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Impact Basins  Utopia Planitia  Lava basin antipodal to Argyre  Viking 2 frost documentation

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Great Canyons  Valles Marineris

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Great Canyons  Valles Marineris  Subsidiary chasmata

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Great Canyons  Valles Marineris  Looks like a canyon draining into Margaritifer and then Chryse  But look at the elevations of the central and eastern ends

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Great Canyons  Valles Marineris  Layering in walls of Melas Chasma  Dunes covering floor

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Great Canyons  Valles Marineris  Layering in walls of Hebes Chasma  And 100 in Candor Chasma below

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Great Canyons  Valles Marineris  Extensional rifting in Coprates Chasma and Catena  Pitting (suggests extension)

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Great Canyons  Melas, Candor, Ophir Chasmata  Theatre-headed tributaries  Like Canyonlands, Utah  Sapping of groundwater

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Great Canyons  Landslides  South Candor Chasma (Viking)

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Polar Ice Caps  North Polar Cap (MRO Mars Color Imager or Marci)  Water ice cap  Seasonal CO 2 veneer

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Polar Ice Caps  South Polar Cap (Viking)  CO 2  Water ice cap underneath?

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Polar Ice Caps  South Polar Cap  Layering (image below from MGS MOC)  Drainage from beneath (MRO High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment or HiRISE ==>)

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: Second Order Landscapes  The Polar Ice Caps  South Polar Cap  Sublimation of CO 2 creates pits on surface? (MGS MOC)  Geyser-like jets of CO 2 in spring? (painting: W.K. Hartmann)

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Mars: More Information  NASA  Mars Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity)   Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006-)   Mars Odyssey (2001-)   Mars Global Surveyor ( )   Mars Phoenix (launched 4 August 2007)   ESA  Mars Express   My Special Topics Course at CSULB  Areography: A Regional Geography of Mars   Google  Google Mars 

C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB Google Mars  Google has created a great resource for “wandering around Mars”: