Noachis quadrangle

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Noachis quadrangle
USGS-Mars-MC-27-NoachisRegion-mola.png
Map of Noachis quadrangle from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data. The highest elevations are red and the lowest are blue.
Coordinates 47°30′S330°00′W / 47.5°S 330°W / -47.5; -330
Image of the Noachis Quadrangle (MC-27). The northeast includes the western half of Hellas basin. The southeastern region contains Peneus Patera and part of the Amphitrites volcano. Noachis Terra.jpg
Image of the Noachis Quadrangle (MC-27). The northeast includes the western half of Hellas basin. The southeastern region contains Peneus Patera and part of the Amphitrites volcano.

The Noachis quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Noachis quadrangle is also referred to as MC-27 (Mars Chart-27). [1]

Contents

The Noachis quadrangle covers the area from 300° to 360° west longitude and 30° to 65° south latitude on Mars. It lies between the two giant impact basins on Mars: Argyre and Hellas. The Noachis quadrangle includes Noachis Terra and the western part of Hellas Planitia.

Noachis is so densely covered with impact craters that it is considered among the oldest landforms on Mars—hence the term "Noachian" for one of the earliest time periods in martian history. In addition, many previously buried craters are now coming to the surface, [2] where Noachis' extreme age has allowed ancient craters to be filled, and once again newly exposed.

Much of the surface in Noachis quadrangle shows a scalloped topography where the disappearance of ground ice has left depressions. [3]

The first piece of human technology to land on Mars landed (crashed) in the Noachis quadrangle. The Soviet's Mars 2 crashed at 44°12′S313°12′W / 44.2°S 313.2°W / -44.2; -313.2 . It weighed about one ton. The automated craft attempted to land in a giant dust storm. To make conditions even worse, this area also has many dust devils. [4]

Scalloped topography

Scalloped Terrain at Peneus Patera, as seen by HiRISE. Scalloped terrain is quite common in some areas of Mars. Scalloped Terrain at Peneus Patera.JPG
Scalloped Terrain at Peneus Patera, as seen by HiRISE. Scalloped terrain is quite common in some areas of Mars.

Certain regions of Mars display scalloped-shaped depressions. The depressions are believed to be the remains of an ice-rich mantle deposit. Scallops are created when ice sublimates from frozen soil. [5] [6] This mantle material probably fell from the air as ice formed on dust when the climate was different due to changes in the tilt of the Mars pole. [7] The scallops are typically tens of meters deep and from a few hundred to a few thousand meters across. They can be almost circular or elongated. Some appear to have coalesced, thereby causing a large heavily pitted terrain to form. A study published in Icarus, found that the landforms of scalloped topography can be made by the subsurface loss of water ice by sublimation under current Martian climate conditions. Their model predicts similar shapes when the ground has large amounts of pure ice, up to many tens of meters in depth. [8] The process of producing the terrain may begin with sublimation from a crack because there are often polygon cracks where scallops form. [3]

Dust devil tracks

Many areas on Mars experience the passage of giant dust devils. A thin coating of fine bright dust covers most of the Martian surface. When a dust devil goes by it blows away the coating and exposes the underlying dark surface creating tracks. Dust devils have been seen from the ground and from orbit. They have even blown the dust off of the solar panels of the two Rovers on Mars, thereby greatly extending their lives. [9] The twin Rovers were designed to last for three months, instead they have lasted more than six years and are still going after over eight years. The pattern of the tracks have been shown to change every few months. [10] TA study that combined data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) found that some large dust devils on Mars have a diameter of 700 meters and last at least 26 minutes. [11] Some dust devils are taller than the average tornado on Earth. [12] The image below of Russel Crater shows changes in dust devil tracks over a period of only three months, as documented by HiRISE. Other dust devil tracks are visible in the picture of Frento Vallis.

Craters

Impact craters generally have a rim with ejecta around them, in contrast volcanic craters usually do not have a rim or ejecta deposits. As craters get larger (greater than 10 km in diameter) they usually have a central peak. [13] The peak is caused by a rebound of the crater floor following the impact. [14] Sometimes craters will display layers. Craters can show us what lies deep under the surface.

Sand dunes

When there are perfect conditions for producing sand dunes, steady wind in one direction and just enough sand, a barchan sand dune forms. Barchans have a gentle slope on the wind side and a much steeper slope on the lee side where horns or a notch often forms. [15] One picture below shows a definite barchan.

Gullies

Gullies on steep slopes are found in certain regions of Mars. Many ideas have been advanced to explain them. Formation by running water when the climate was different is a popular idea. Recently, because changes in gullies have been seen since HiRISE has been orbiting Mars, it is thought that they may be formed by chunks of dry ice moving down slope during spring time. Gullies are one of the most interesting discoveries made by orbiting space craft. [16] [17] [18] [19]

Hellas floor features

The Hellas floor contains some strange-looking features. One of these features is called "banded terrain." [20] [21] [22] This terrain has also been called "taffy pull" terrain, and it lies near honeycomb terrain, another strange surface. [23] Banded terrain is found in the north-western part of the Hellas basin. This section of the Hellas basin is the deepest. The banded-terrain deposit displays an alternation of narrow band shapes and inter-bands. The sinuous nature and relatively smooth surface texture suggesting a viscous flow origin. A study published in Planetary and Space Science found that this terrain was the youngest deposit of the interior of Hellas. They also suggest in the paper that banded terrain may have covered a larger area of the NW interior of Hellas. The bands can be classified as linear, concentric, or lobate. Bands are typically 3–15 km long, 3 km wide. Narrow inter-band depressions are 65 m wide and 10 m deep. [24] Pictures of these features can look like abstract art.

Gullies on dunes

Gullies are found on some dunes. These are somewhat different from gullies in other places, like the walls of craters. Gullies on dunes seem to keep the same width for a long distance and often just end with a pit, instead of an apron. Many of these gullies are found on dunes in Russell (Martian crater).

Channels

Other scenes

Other Mars quadrangles

MGS MOC Wide Angle Map of Mars PIA03467.jpg
MGS MOC Wide Angle Map of Mars PIA03467.jpg
Interactive icon.svg Clickable image of the 30 cartographic quadrangles of Mars, defined by the USGS. [25] [28] Quadrangle numbers (beginning with MC for "Mars Chart") [29] and names link to the corresponding articles. North is at the top; 0°N180°W / 0°N 180°W / 0; -180 is at the far left on the equator. The map images were taken by the Mars Global Surveyor.
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Interactive Mars map

Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars. Hover your mouse over the image to see the names of over 60 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Whites and browns indicate the highest elevations (+12 to +8 km); followed by pinks and reds (+8 to +3 km); yellow is 0 km; greens and blues are lower elevations (down to -8 km). Axes are latitude and longitude; Polar regions are noted. (See also: Mars Rovers map and Mars Memorial map) (view * discuss) Mars Map.JPGCydonia MensaeGale craterHolden craterJezero craterLomonosov craterLyot craterMalea PlanumMaraldi craterMareotis TempeMie craterMilankovič craterSisyphi Planum
Interactive icon.svg Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars. Hover your mouse over the image to see the names of over 60 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor . Whites and browns indicate the highest elevations (+12 to +8 km); followed by pinks and reds (+8 to +3 km); yellow is 0 km; greens and blues are lower elevations (down to −8 km). Axes are latitude and longitude; Polar regions are noted.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Utopia Planitia is a large plain within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars and in the Solar System with an estimated diameter of 3,300 km (2,100 mi). It is the Martian region where the Viking 2 lander touched down and began exploring on September 3, 1976, and the Zhurong rover touched down on May 14, 2021, as a part of the Tianwen-1 mission. It is located at the antipode of Argyre Planitia, centered at 46.7°N 117.5°E. It is also in the Casius quadrangle, Amenthes quadrangle, and the Cebrenia quadrangle of Mars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellas Planitia</span> Plantia on Mars

Hellas Planitia is a plain located within the huge, roughly circular impact basin Hellas located in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. Hellas is the third- or fourth-largest known impact crater in the Solar System. The basin floor is about 7,152 m (23,465 ft) deep, 3,000 m (9,800 ft) deeper than the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin, and extends about 2,300 km (1,400 mi) east to west. It is centered at 42.4°S 70.5°E. Hellas Planitia spans the boundary between the Hellas quadrangle and the Noachis quadrangle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terra Sirenum</span>

Terra Sirenum is a large region in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. It is centered at 39.7°S 150°W and covers 3900 km at its broadest extent. It covers latitudes 10 to 70 South and longitudes 110 to 180 W. Terra Sirenum is an upland area notable for massive cratering including the large Newton Crater. Terra Sirenum is in the Phaethontis quadrangle and the Memnonia quadrangle of Mars. A low area in Terra Sirenum is believed to have once held a lake that eventually drained through Ma'adim Vallis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noachis Terra</span> Landmass of southern Mars

Noachis Terra is an extensive southern landmass (terra) of the planet Mars. It lies west of the giant Hellas impact basin, roughly between the latitudes −20° and −80° and longitudes 30° west and 30° east, centered on 45°S350°E. It is in the Noachis quadrangle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terra Sabaea</span> Terra on Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ismenius Lacus quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

The Ismenius Lacus quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The quadrangle is located in the northwestern portion of Mars' eastern hemisphere and covers 0° to 60° east longitude and 30° to 65° north latitude. The quadrangle uses a Lambert conformal conic projection at a nominal scale of 1:5,000,000 (1:5M). The Ismenius Lacus quadrangle is also referred to as MC-5. The southern and northern borders of the Ismenius Lacus quadrangle are approximately 3,065 km (1,905 mi) and 1,500 km (930 mi) wide, respectively. The north-to-south distance is about 2,050 km (1,270 mi). The quadrangle covers an approximate area of 4.9 million square km, or a little over 3% of Mars' surface area. The Ismenius Lacus quadrangle contains parts of Acidalia Planitia, Arabia Terra, Vastitas Borealis, and Terra Sabaea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casius quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diacria quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arcadia quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iapygia quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellas quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eridania quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phaethontis quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thaumasia quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argyre quadrangle</span> Map of Mars

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Scalloped topography is common in the mid-latitudes of Mars, between 45° and 60° north and south. It is particularly prominent in the region of Utopia Planitia, in the northern hemisphere, and in the region of Peneus and Amphitrites Paterae in the southern hemisphere. Such topography consists of shallow, rimless depressions with scalloped edges, commonly referred to as "scalloped depressions" or simply "scallops". Scalloped depressions can be isolated or clustered and sometimes seem to coalesce. A typical scalloped depression displays a gentle equator-facing slope and a steeper pole-facing scarp. This topographic asymmetry is probably due to differences in insolation. Scalloped depressions are believed to form from the removal of subsurface material, possibly interstitial ice, by sublimation. This process may still be happening at present. This topography may be of great importance for future colonization of Mars because it may point to deposits of pure ice.

HiWish is a program created by NASA so that anyone can suggest a place for the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to photograph. It was started in January 2010. In the first few months of the program 3000 people signed up to use HiRISE. The first images were released in April 2010. Over 12,000 suggestions were made by the public; suggestions were made for targets in each of the 30 quadrangles of Mars. Selected images released were used for three talks at the 16th Annual International Mars Society Convention. Below are some of the over 4,224 images that have been released from the HiWish program as of March 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gullies on Mars</span> Incised networks of narrow channels and sediments on Mars

Martian gullies are small, incised networks of narrow channels and their associated downslope sediment deposits, found on the planet of Mars. They are named for their resemblance to terrestrial gullies. First discovered on images from Mars Global Surveyor, they occur on steep slopes, especially on the walls of craters. Usually, each gully has a dendritic alcove at its head, a fan-shaped apron at its base, and a single thread of incised channel linking the two, giving the whole gully an hourglass shape. They are estimated to be relatively young because they have few, if any craters. A subclass of gullies is also found cut into the faces of sand dunes, that are themselves considered to be quite young. Linear dune gullies are now considered recurrent seasonal features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evidence of water on Mars found by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter</span>

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE instrument has taken many images that strongly suggest that Mars has had a rich history of water-related processes. Many features of Mars appear to be created by large amounts of water. That Mars once possessed large amounts of water was confirmed by isotope studies in a study published in March 2015, by a team of scientists showing that the ice caps were highly enriched with deuterium, heavy hydrogen, by seven times as much as the Earth. This means that Mars has lost a volume of water 6.5 times what is stored in today's polar caps. The water for a time would have formed an ocean in the low-lying Mare Boreum. The amount of water could have covered the planet about 140 meters, but was probably in an ocean that in places would be almost 1 mile deep.

The common surface features of Mars include dark slope streaks, dust devil tracks, sand dunes, Medusae Fossae Formation, fretted terrain, layers, gullies, glaciers, scalloped topography, chaos terrain, possible ancient rivers, pedestal craters, brain terrain, and ring mold craters.

References

  1. ↑ Davies, M.E.; Batson, R.M.; Wu, S.S.C. "Geodesy and Cartography" in Kieffer, H.H.; Jakosky, B.M.; Snyder, C.W.; Matthews, M.S., Eds. Mars. University of Arizona Press: Tucson, 1992.
  2. ↑ Mars Space Flight Facility (17 March 2004). "Exhumed Crater (Released 17 March 2004)". Arizona State University. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  3. 1 2 Lefort, A.; et al. (2010). "Scalloped terrains in the Peneus and Amphitrites Paterae region of Mars as observed by HiRISE". Icarus. 205 (1): 259–268. Bibcode:2010Icar..205..259L. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.06.005.
  4. ↑ Hartmann, W. 2003. A Traveler's Guide to Mars. Workman Publishing. NY, NY.[ page needed ]
  5. ↑ "HiRISE | Scalloped Depressions in Peneus Patera (PSP_004340_1235)".
  6. ↑ McEwen, A., et al. 2017. Mars The Pristine Beauty of the Red Planet. University of Arizona Press. Tucson.[ page needed ]
  7. ↑ Head, James W.; Mustard, John F.; Kreslavsky, Mikhail A.; Milliken, Ralph E.; Marchant, David R. (2003). "Recent ice ages on Mars". Nature. 426 (6968): 797–802. Bibcode:2003Natur.426..797H. doi:10.1038/nature02114. PMID   14685228. S2CID   2355534.
  8. ↑ Dundas, Colin M.; Byrne, Shane; McEwen, Alfred S. (2015). "Modeling the development of martian sublimation thermokarst landforms". Icarus. 262: 154–169. Bibcode:2015Icar..262..154D. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.07.033.
  9. ↑ "Press Release Images: Spirit". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  10. ↑ "Ken Edgett". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2001. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  11. ↑ Reiss, D.; Zanetti, M.; Neukum, G. (2011). "Multitemporal observations of identical active dust devils on Mars with the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)". Icarus. 215 (1): 358–369. Bibcode:2011Icar..215..358R. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.06.011.
  12. ↑ "How tall is a tornado?". 23 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Stones, Wind, and Ice: A Guide to Martian Impact Craters".
  14. ↑ Hugh H. Kieffer (1992). Mars. University of Arizona Press. ISBN   978-0-8165-1257-7 . Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  15. ↑ Pye, Kenneth; Haim Tsoar (2008). Aeolian Sand and Sand Dunes. Springer. p. 138. ISBN   9783540859109.
  16. ↑ "NASA Spacecraft Observes Further Evidence of Dry Ice Gullies on Mars". Jet Propulsion Laboratory .
  17. ↑ "HiRISE | Activity in Martian Gullies (ESP_032078_1420)".
  18. ↑ "Gullies on Mars Carved by Dry Ice, Not Water". Space.com . 16 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "Frosty Gullies on Mars - SpaceRef".
  20. ↑ Diot, X., et al. 2014. The geomorphology and morphometry of the banded terrain in Hellas basin, Mars. Planetary and Space Science: 101, 118-134.
  21. ↑ "NASA - Banded Terrain in Hellas".
  22. ↑ "HiRISE | Complex Banded Terrain in Hellas Planitia (ESP_016154_1420)".
  23. ↑ Bernhardt, H., et al. 2018. THE BANDED TERRAIN ON THE HELLAS BASIN FLOOR, MARS: GRAVITY-DRIVEN FLOW NOT SUPPORTED BY NEW OBSERVATIONS. 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2018 (LPI Contrib. No. 2083). 1143.pdf
  24. ↑ Diot, X.; El-Maarry, M.R.; Schlunegger, F.; Norton, K.P.; Thomas, N.; Grindrod, P.M.; Chojnacki, M. (2016). "Complex geomorphologic assemblage of terrains in association with the banded terrain in Hellas basin, Mars" (PDF). Planetary and Space Science. 121: 36–52. Bibcode:2016P&SS..121...36D. doi: 10.1016/j.pss.2015.12.003 .
  25. ↑ Morton, Oliver (2002). Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination, and the Birth of a World. New York: Picador USA. p. 98. ISBN   0-312-24551-3.
  26. "Online Atlas of Mars". Ralphaeschliman.com. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  27. "PIA03467: The MGS MOC Wide Angle Map of Mars". Photojournal. NASA /Jet Propulsion Laboratory. February 16, 2002. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Online Atlas of Mars". Ralphaeschliman.com. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  29. ↑ "PIA03467: The MGS MOC Wide Angle Map of Mars". Photojournal. NASA /Jet Propulsion Laboratory. February 16, 2002. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
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