The Roman God of War! Kanook – Tlingit Nation March – 2010 It just might be that someday, maybe far into the future, or maybe just around the bend that people from out home, the Blue Marble may colonized our neighbor some 55.7579 (at it closest on Aug 27 th , 2003) million mil es away fro m our pl anet. Albeit it has a minimal amount of water on the surface, many believe there is a sufficient amount to sup port life, as we un derstand life th at is. Although on S eptember 25 th , 2009 our scientists estimate that there is as much “ice” on Mars equaling twice ofwhat is found in Greenland’s ice sheet – ice mean some form of water, true? Mars as compared to our home in the Solar System has a volume of 39,148,963,940 cubic miles while our home as a volume of 259,875,251,500 cubic miles, with Ma rs being appro ximately 15.06% s maller than Ea rth. It has a surfa ce area of 55,907,013 square miles compared to the available surface area on Earth at 57,506,055 square miles, in other words only about 1,599,042 square miles less or 2.78% less than on Earth. As for life, as we understand, the chances of life on the 4 th planet from the sun, ifthere was any chance it had to could have ended duri ng what is labeled the “Amazonian Epoch” some 1.8 million years ago, albeit even longer ago some 4 billion years ago when it is estimated a Pluto-sized body slammed into Mar s creat ing the Bor eal is bas in tha t covers some 22, 362 ,80 5 square mi les of Mar s surface or a litt le over 38.89% of th e available land on E arth. Can you imagin e an object of this size impacting our Earth. Consequently the Borealis basis is considered the large impact crater in our Solar System. Today, evidence points to the fact that Mars has no tectonic activity, as its core, which has a radius of approximately 920 miles consisting primarily of iron, with somewhere in the region of 14% t0 17% sulfur is labeled as a Iron Sulfide core in a partially fluid state, is completely inactive, in other wards the nuclear dynamo that drives our core no-longer exists on Mars. Because of this inactive core, it also does not exhibit any signs of a global magnetic field, so if you going to Mars leave your compass at home. Albe it there mus t have been some act ivity in its core in the distant pass, as it has been determined that alternating bands of magnetic band similar to those found on our ocean floors have been found on Mars. Which to our scholars demonstrates in that same distant past Mars had tectonic plates, such as the plates that drive earthquake prediction scientists wild here on Earth.
It just might be that someday, maybe far into the future, or maybe just around the
bend that people from out home, the Blue Marble may colonized our neighbor some
55.7579 (at it closest on Aug 27th, 2003) million miles away from our planet. Albeit
it has a minimal amount of water on the surface, many believe there is a sufficient
amount to support life, as we understand life that is. Although on September 25th,
2009 our scientists estimate that there is as much “ice” on Mars equaling twice of
what is found in Greenland’s ice sheet – ice mean some form of water, true?Mars as compared to our home in the Solar System has a volume of
39,148,963,940 cubic miles while our home as a volume of 259,875,251,500 cubic
miles, with Mars being approximately 15.06% smaller than Earth. It has a surface
area of 55,907,013 square miles compared to the available surface area on Earth at
57,506,055 square miles, in other words only about 1,599,042 square miles less or
2.78% less than on Earth.
As for life, as we understand, the chances of life on the 4 th planet from the sun, if
there was any chance it had to could have ended during what is labeled the
“Amazonian Epoch” some 1.8 million years ago, albeit even longer ago some 4
billion years ago when it is estimated a Pluto-sized body slammed into Marscreating the Borealis basin that covers some 22,362,805 square miles of Mars
surface or a little over 38.89% of the available land on Earth. Can you imagine an
object of this size impacting our Earth. Consequently the Borealis basis is
considered the large impact crater in our Solar System.
Today, evidence points to the fact that Mars has no tectonic activity, as its core,
which has a radius of approximately 920 miles consisting primarily of iron, with
somewhere in the region of 14% t0 17% sulfur is labeled as a Iron Sulfide core in a
partially fluid state, is completely inactive, in other wards the nuclear dynamo that
drives our core no-longer exists on Mars. Because of this inactive core, it also does
not exhibit any signs of a global magnetic field, so if you going to Mars leave your
compass at home. Albeit there must have been some activity in its core in the
distant pass, as it has been determined that alternating bands of magnetic band
similar to those found on our ocean floors have been found on Mars. Which to our
scholars demonstrates in that same distant past Mars had tectonic plates, such as
the plates that drive earthquake prediction scientists wild here on Earth.
The crust of the planet varies from an average 30 miles to a maximum of 78
miles, while here on Earth our crust averages around 25 miles, which in size
comparison between the two planetoids our crush is only 33% as thick as Mars.
Mars has the distinction of having the tallest mountain in addition to be the largest
volcano ( Alba Mons) in our Solar System, Olympus Mons (Latin Mount Olympus) at
68,897 feet above the mean surface is 2.37 times taller than Mt Everest at only29,029 feet above sea level. For size comparison Olympus Mons is approximately
the size of the State of Arizona (113,998 square miles).
Mars also has the largest canyon in our Solar System, Valles Marineris (Latin
Mariner Valleys), it was named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter in 1971. It is
2,485+miles long, 124+miles wide and up to 4.35 miles deep, whereas the well
known Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, 4-18 miles wide and only obtains a depth of
1.137 miles. Therefore Valles Marineris is 8.97 times longer, 7 times as wide and
3.8 times deeper.
As for impact craters, the Borealis basin covers 22,362,805 square miles, where
the elliptical crater has a length of 6,586 miles and a width of 6,281 miles, the
largest verified crater on Earth is the Vredefort dome located in the province of
South Africa, which has a width of 6.21 miles and is 186 mile diameter at most – in
this it is safe to say that the Borealis impact site is approximately 100 times a great
as Vredefort which happened around 2.03 million years ago, while the Borealis site
is estimated to have happened around 4 billion years ago.
Olympus Mons
As I mentioned
previously the mountain is approximately the same size as
the State of Arizona, in perspective we see this is no small
volcano. Finding the description that will bring its size to
reality is difficult, the best being that if you even if you stood on its peak, you would
not be able to see the mountain in its entirety – compare this to standing a
mountain 69,000 feet in Phoenix and trying to see the lights in Las Vegas. Its center
sits some 13.05 miles above the mean surface surrounding it, it is 341 miles in
width flanked by steep cliffs and has a caldera complex that is 53 miles long and 37
miles wide and is 1.8 miles deep with six overlapping craters, with an outer edgedefined by an escarpment up to 4 miles high, which is found to be unique among
the shield volcanoes of Mars.
Because of its size and the curvature of Mars, even from a distance a person
would not be able to see the upper profile of the volcano as its makeup would
enable a sighting – and standing on its summit the volcano would extend beyond
the visible horizon. In other words this monster is big!
Alba Mons has thinner lava flows than other Marian shield volcanoes, that include
enormous sheet-like layers and hundreds of long narrow channels on its flanks.
Most of the channels are over 61 miles long, with some that extend over 186 miles
away from the volcano which suggest extremely fluid lave erupting over long
periods of time. The volcano is located on a system of faults running towards
northwards away from the Tharsis region. It is also note that many of the valleys inand around Alba Mons are similar in appearance to those created by rainfall as
where the one located on Hawaiian volcanoes.
Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris is situated along the equator of Mars, on the east side of the
Tharsis Bulge and stretches for almost a quarter of the planet’s circumference.
It is a ragged geological scar that crosses the belly of Mars, just a bit south of the
equator that in an Earth comparison would stretch from New York City to Los
Angeles, the largest Great Rift in our Solar System – it is formed out of several
parallel connecting troughs and dwarfs our Grand Canyon in every respect, being
longer, wider, deeper and older. It is indeed grand!
Scholars believe that it began to open along geological faults some 3.5 billion
years ago, faults that were created by the tectonic activity caused the growth of the
giant volcanoes in the Tharsis region, lying jus to the west. Figuring that as the
molten rock pushed into Tharsis from below the entire region rose, causing stress
that the surrounding crustal rocks stretched and eventually broke into faults and
fractures. As the cracks opened, the ground sank, with faulting also opening paths
for subsurface water to escaped, further undermining the ground and enlarging the
fracture zone, with additional formation caused by the now unstable steep newlyexposed walls to become unstable, causing landslides that widen the canyon. It is
not certain when the valley’s formation stopped, and it is noted that even today
small landslides are still occurring but in general it is believed the main activity
came to a halt some 2 billion years ago.
The canyon begins is march eastward beginning
with the Noctis Labyrinthus, the Tharis upland that
is located in the Phoencias Lacus quadrangle…an
area noted for its maze-like deep steep-walled
valleys. Which were formed by faulting, with the
upland plain surface preserved on the valley floor.
In some places the valley floors have been
disturbed by landslides and in other places you’ll
see where the land appears to have sunk down into
pit-like formations. After this area the canyon
moves east and splits into two troughs, the
Tithonium Chasma (north) and the lus Chasma
(south) whereas in the middle of this split are
located some very wide valleys of Ophir Chasma,
Candor Chasma and Melas Chasma, continuing on it
now reaches the Coprates Chasma, then Ganges,
Capri and Eos chasmata – finally it empties into anoutflow channel region containing chaotic terrain
that end in the basin of Chryse Planitia.
Lay out, in your mind this huge canyon from New York City to Los Angeles and
describe the different types of landscape it would bisect, this will help you
understand its size and the various landforms it bisects on Mars. Most researchers
who study the surface of Mars agree without a doubt that it is the largest tectonic
crack on Mars, it been agreed upon that it was formed when the “crust” rose in the
Tharsis region in the west, and over billions of years was eroded. As of late, there is
considerable opinion that believe the eastern flanks channels are visible that may
have been caused by some form of water or carbon dioxide. There have many different theories over the past decades on how Valles Marineris
became what it is today, the theory today that most agree upon is the crustal
upheaval that formed rift faults like the action found that formed the East African
Rift Valley, later made larger by erosion and the subsequent collapsing of the rift
walls – one theory supporting the erosion is by Nick Hoffman who maintains that
rapid decompression of carbon dioxide in the Noctis Labyrinthus aquifer, whereas
when CO² decompresses it turns from a solid to a fluid/gas and can travel at great
velocities through the thin atmosphere of Mars.
Its primary creation is linked to the volcanic action in the Tharis Bulge, whereas
this activity is believed to have happened in three stages, stage one of the Tharsis
construction consisted of a combination of volcanism and isostatic uplift, soon (soon
not meaning within a few days or so) however, the volcanism loaded the crust to apoint at which the crust could no longer support the added weight, which lead to
widespread grabens in the elevated regions of Tharsis…stage two consisted of more
volcanism and a loss of isostatic equilibrium, where the source regions of the
volcanism no longer resided “underneath” Tharsis, creating a very large above
ground load and the magma chamber was getting empty. Finally the crust failed to
hold up Tharsis and the radial fractures, like Valles Marineris formed…stage three
mainly consisted of later volcanism and the crust having already reached its failure
state, just stayed in place and the younger volcanoes formed – and as we learned
there is no plate movement on Mars the hotspot continued to discharge the very
low viscosity magma, and kept loading the same spot over and over again creating
the biggest volcanoes in our Solar System.
At the far western end of Valles Marineris is found Chryse Planitia, a smooth
circular plain in the northern equatorial region of Mars, very close to the Tharsis
region in the west. It lies partially in the Lunae Palus quadrangle and part in the
Oxia Palus quadrangle, and is 995 miles in diameter with its floor and average of
1.56 miles “below” the mean surface of Mars and is believed to have been an
ancient impact crater. It demonstrates clear evidence of water erosion, and is the
bottom end for many outflow channels from the southern highlands as well as from
Valles Marineris and the flanks of the Tharsis Bulge, as it is one of the lowest
regions on Mars water would tend to flow into it.
A common theory today is that the Chryse basin may have contained a large lake
or an ocean during the Hesperian or early Amazonia periods, since all the large
outflow channels entering it end as the same elevation, whereas some surface
Top two images the southern hemisphere is on the left, and northern on
the right, bottom image is the northern section.
The northern-hemisphere on Mars is one of the smoothest surfaces found
anywhere in our Solar System, and it is believed by some geologists to have once
contained an ocean in the early days of the planet. The southern hemisphere is
high, rough, and heavily-cratered, which ranges from 2.5 miles to 5 miles higher in
elevation than the basis floor.
One complicating factor in making the final determination that the Borealis Basin
was actually an impact crater created at least 3.9 million years ago was that giantvolcanoes have formed along one part of the basin rim, creating a huge region of
high, rough terrain that hid the outlines of the basin, science had retrieved the
gravity data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which revealed the underlying
structure couple with current surface elevations from the Mars Global Explorer
science was able to reconstruct a map of Mars elevations as they existed “before”
The reconstruction showed a clear elliptical basin shape, that included along part
of the rim an outer ring, which is a typical characteristic of a large impact basin.
The determination was that “an impact is really the only mechanism that can
produce these large-scale elliptical depressions, these large holes in the ground.”
In any case, science had identified a huge scar on an ancient impact whereas up
until this work nobody had clearly identified signs of any ancient impact in the sizerange proposed, although there are two even larger possible impacts, one of the
planet Mercury and a now widely accepted theory that our planet suffered an
impact from an object as big as Mars, melting the crust and ejecting it into space
where some of the debris clumped together and formed our moon. In both these
cases, the impacts were so enormous they completely obliterated all visible signs of
the impact. It has only been through in-direct analysis that included the study or
rocks brought back from the moon, that these giant impacts have been
reconstructed. With reference to other impacts there is the Hellas Basin on Mars
(1,491 miles by 1,118 miles) and the South Pole-Aitken Basin (1,304 miles by 932
mile) on our Moon.
The impact at Borealis Basin was calculated to have been caused by an object
some 1.243 miles across, larger than Pluto, and it struck at an angle of about 45°,
creating the oval shape of the basin. It is safe to say, “the early Solar System was a
very dangerous place to be a planet, and yet without those impacts, we wouldn’t
have the planets as we know them today.”
Albeit debate is heavy, with a majority of science still in strong doubt that Mars
had oceans at one time, other have calculated the possible volumes of water
deposited by massive floods, crashing tumultuous bodies of water that carried
rocks, ice and sediments through the channels observed leading into the Borealis
Basin, especially through the Chryse basin, where the debris-laden floodwater
scoured the landscape, cutting through the underlying rock, and when it did spreadout, where did the floodwaters go? There is a group of science that feels it filled the
Borealis Basin, with at times over 300,000 cubic kilometers of water – which by the
way is enough to flood the entire North American continent with over 98.5 feet of
water. It is estimated it would have taken over 30 such floods to fill the basin to the
level estimated to have sat there in ancient Martian history.
But, whether or not Mars had large bodies of standing water remains an
unanswered question, and as mentioned, not all of science supports the notion of a
vast northern ocean. Data obtained from our recent near Mars surveys do not show
any features associated with the action of water on its coastal environment, where
researchers point to the fact that what is there are indications of tectonic processesrelated to the Tharsis volcanoes, but then again tectonic features in this area of
Mars, however, are not inconsistent with the possible presence of an ocean,
whereas Earth’s ocean basins are prime examples of tectonic features.
A piece on Mars wouldn’t be an article on Mars unless included the controversial
“Face on Mars”, a snapshot taken back in 1976 that made more history than man
