Post on 07-Jul-2018
8/19/2019 Martian Geomorphology
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MARTIAN GEOMORPHOLOGY
A GENERAL VIEW
HOW IS IT SO EVIDENT ??
Mars doesn’t have a thick atmosphere as
compared to earth and also no vegetation and noanimal habits are present. So, the morphology is
preserved for a longer time undisturbed.
WHY MARS ?
Out of all the planets in the solar system, the Red
Planet has always been of keen interest to man the
main reason to be having Earth-like features. This
planet is the most prospectus one in the eyes ofscientists across the world as the most prospectus
one for human settlement as of now.
THE MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES
• Fluvial Flow like canyons, valleys
• Aeolian like dust storms and subsequent dunes
and ridges
• Volcanic – the shield volcanoes, largest volcano
in the solar system Olympus Mons is on Mars.
• Extra-terrestrial impact – Craters.
• Glacial – Polar Ice caps.
• Landslides and escarpments
• Formation of clouds
• Hemispheric Dichotomy
The Red Planet’s surface is similar to that of the
Earth caused by various geomorphological agents.
These carved a plethora of valleys, volcanoes,
crates, dunes etc.
The Martian surface has some large canyon systems.
The largest is Valles Marineris, which extends forabout 5000 km, is 500 km wide in the widest
portions, and as much as 6km deep. The enormous
system of connecting canyons appears to have been
formed mostly by local tectonic activity.
CANYON SYSTEMS
ENORMOUS SHIELD VOLCANOES
The volcanoes on Mars are now extinct, but they
indicate a preceding period of significant Martian
volcanism. By the volcanoes’ sloping pattern, we can
infer that the magma is mostly Basaltic as it has
lesser viscosity and has an ability to flow.
EVIDENCES FOR FLUVIAL EROSION
There are channels on Mars as much as
1500 km long and 200 km wide that
appear to have been cut by running
water. Evidence for water erosion
suggests that the Martian atmosphere
may have been more dense in the past
POLAR ICE CAPS
Mars has polar caps that
shows waxing and waning
suggesting that the Mars has
seasons as the Earth.
Repeated freeze-thaw cycles
smooth out irregularities
and odd-shaped piles to
form patterned ground.
DUST STORMS
The atmosphere of Mars is
thin but this atmosphere
supports high velocity
seasonal winds that are
correlated with solar heating
and that produce dust
storms that lead to a lot of
surface erosion.
CRATERS
The surface of Mars exhibits
craters as a result of
meteorite collisions. There
are hundreds of thousands of
impact craters on Mars.
CLOUDS
The Martian atmosphere has only a
trace of water vapor; however, the
temperature and pressure is suchthat the atmosphere is usually close
to saturation and produces clouds.