MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT - Mars Educationmarsed.asu.edu/sites/default/files/msip_reports...(The...
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MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Burk Elementary MSIP Report I. Introduction Science Question: Do the relative ages of craters (preserved, modified, and destroyed) in different areas of Mars share similar characteristics? Why is this question important and interesting? Our question is important because the ages of craters will help us understand the geologic processes on Mars. It is interesting because Mars has such a great number of craters of various ages. Our Hypothesis: We hypothesize that the Amazonis Planitia craters will have evidence of water features. More volcanic features are expected in the Tharsis Region. Sirenum Terra will have more wind and canyon features. Hellas Basin will show all types of features except volcanic features. II. Background Photographs of Mars show that much of the planet is covered with craters. Early in the history of the solar system Mars, Earth and the other planets were bombarded with meteors that blasted craters in their surfaces. Most of Earth’s craters have been erased. Some have been eroded away by water, buried as the land changed, and some hidden by vegetation. But Mars still shows the scars of thousands of these violent collisions. The largest is the Hellas Basin, a huge depression that is 1,300 miles across and six miles deep. The crater, which resulted from a planet jarring collision long ago, would cover nearly half the United States. Four billion years ago, all of Mars was probably covered with craters. Since then, much of the land north of Mars’ equator has been flooded by lava flowing from the volcanoes in the Tharsis region and elsewhere. Many of the old impact craters in the north have been covered over, buried by lava. (The Mystery of Mars, Sally Ride, p.16) In contrast, the southern part of Mars is still covered in craters. Flowing lava has not resurfaced this part of the planet. The heavily cratered land is nearly four billion years old and has been changed very little during that time. (The Mystery of Mars, Sally Ride, p.16) Impact craters on Mars are formed when meteorites slam into its surface displacing rock and soil, creating a bowl –shaped hole or crater. Impact craters in Mars vary in size from less than 1 km to 2,100 km in diameter. An impact crater usually has five parts, although not all of these parts are visible in all craters. The raised area around the edge of the crater is called the rim, and is material that was thrown upward by the violence of the impact that created the crater. Some of the material that was in the crater was thrown high into the air and landed outside the crater in a blanket called ejecta. Rays are a type of ejecta with long, outward pointing streaks. The walls of the crater slope down to the floor, which is often flat. If the impact was violent enough to melt the rock, which became the floor of the crater, a central uplift or peak will often form. (Mapping the Surface of a Planet Student Guide, p. 1.)
Transcript of MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT - Mars Educationmarsed.asu.edu/sites/default/files/msip_reports...(The...
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
Burk Elementary MSIP Report I. Introduction
Science Question: Do the relative ages of craters (preserved, modified, and destroyed) in different areas of Mars share similar characteristics? Why is this question important and interesting? Our question is important because the ages of craters will help us understand the geologic processes on Mars. It is interesting because Mars has such a great number of craters of various ages.
Our Hypothesis: We hypothesize that the Amazonis Planitia craters will have evidence of water features. More volcanic features are expected in the Tharsis Region. Sirenum Terra will have more wind and canyon features. Hellas Basin will show all types of features except volcanic features.
II. Background
Photographs of Mars show that much of the planet is covered with craters. Early in the history of the solar system Mars, Earth and the other planets were bombarded with meteors that blasted craters in their surfaces. Most of Earth’s craters have been erased. Some have been eroded away by water, buried as the land changed, and some hidden by vegetation. But Mars still shows the scars of thousands of these violent collisions. The largest is the Hellas Basin, a huge depression that is 1,300 miles across and six miles deep. The crater, which resulted from a planet jarring collision long ago, would cover nearly half the United States. Four billion years ago, all of Mars was probably covered with craters. Since then, much of the land north of Mars’ equator has been flooded by lava flowing from the volcanoes in the Tharsis region and elsewhere. Many of the old impact craters in the north have been covered over, buried by lava. (The Mystery of Mars, Sally Ride, p.16) In contrast, the southern part of Mars is still covered in craters. Flowing lava has not resurfaced this part of the planet. The heavily cratered land is nearly four billion years old and has been changed very little during that time. (The Mystery of Mars, Sally Ride, p.16)
Impact craters on Mars are formed when meteorites slam into its surface displacing rock and soil, creating a bowl –shaped hole or crater. Impact craters in Mars vary in size from less than 1 km to 2,100 km in diameter. An impact crater usually has five parts, although not all of these parts are visible in all craters. The raised area around the edge of the crater is called the rim, and is material that was thrown upward by the violence of the impact that created the crater. Some of the material that was in the crater was thrown high into the air and landed outside the crater in a blanket called ejecta. Rays are a type of ejecta with long, outward pointing streaks. The walls of the crater slope down to the floor, which is often flat. If the impact was violent enough to melt the rock, which became the floor of the crater, a central uplift or peak will often form. (Mapping the Surface of a Planet Student Guide, p. 1.)
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
Arabia Terra, Mars Malin Space Science Systems/NASA
Isidis Crater Elysium Planitia Terra Sabaea MSIP website MSIP website MSIP website Preserved crater Destroyed crater Modified crater
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
• How impact craters are thought to form (the geologic process) on Mars.
The Explorers Guide to Impact Craters www.psi.edu.explorecraters/front.htm
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
III. Experiment Design
We used the THEMIS camera aboard the Odyssey spacecraft to gather data for our project. We also used archived images from the HIRES camera aboard the MRO. Images from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) aboard the Mars Global Surveyor were also referenced. We focused on impact craters. We looked at preserved, modified and destroyed craters and noted their locations. We compared four different regions of Mars and analyzed the ages of craters. We focused on the craters in four specific regions. These regions were the Tharsis region, Amazonis Planitia, Sirenum Terra, and Hellas Basin. We looked for water features, volcanic features, canyon features, wind features, and landslide features. We used the following websites as resources: http://themis.asu.edu http://msip.asu.edu http://science.nasa.gov http://www.NASA/JPL/Malin We used these websites to access photo images of Mars and then used these photos to analyze the crater features to determine ages of craters.
We recorded the following information in a table from each image we observed: Ø Area: This will allow us and other scientists to reexamine the regions we studied. Ø Condition of Crater: Craters were categorized as preserved, modified and destroyed. Ø Specific feature(s): We looked for evidence of water, volcanic features, canyons, wind and
landslides. Ø IV. Analysis Plan
• TABLE:
Area Condition
of Crater Water
Features Volcanic Features
Canyon Features
Wind Features
Landslide Features
Preserved
Modified
Destroyed
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
• GRAPHS:
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
• MAP: We plotted our data on a map. We used a Mola Map to show locations of craters
OTHER: We used annotated images showing craters of various ages.
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
V. Conclusion
Science Question: Do the relative ages of craters (preserved, modified, and destroyed) in different areas of Mars share similar characteristics? Our Answer: As craters age over time, their characteristics become more similar. Discussion: Our data showed that Hellas Basin and Tharsis had more destroyed and modified craters because of wind and volcanic features. Even though Amazonis is close to Tharsis, it has more water features and has newer craters. Sirenum is very old, but has more craters than Tharsis and Amazonis, mostly because the lava flows haven’t reached that area. Error and Bias: The data did not support our expectations for the Amazonis region. There were far more volcanic features than water features. We may have misidentified water and volcanic features in these regions. Future Investigations: Our research showed we might have had errors in the Tharsis and Amazonis data. We might have mistaken collapsed lava tubes and fissures for channels. We would review our data again, and define our feature identification so that is more precise. Acknowledgments: We would like to thank the MSIP Staff: Dr. Phil Christensen Dr. Briony Horgan Jonathan Hill Jessica Swann Meg Hufford Paige Graff Our Teacher: Mrs. Lori Gallas
MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM
VI. References
Christensen, P.R., B.M. Jakosky, H.H. Kieffer, M.C. Malin, H.Y. McSween, Jr., K. Nealson, G.L. Mehall, S. H.Silverman, S. Ferry, M. Caplinger, and M. Ravine, The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) for the Mars 2001 Odyssey Mission, Space Science reviews, 110, 85-130, 2004 Ride, S. and O’Shaughnessy, T. The Mystery of Mars, San Diego, Sally Ride Science, 2006. The Explorers Guide to Impact Craters, www.psi.edu.explorecraters/front.htm Watt, K. (2002). Mapping the Surface of a Planet. Retrieved March 1, Mars Student Imaging Project Web site: http://msip.asu.edu/curriculum.html.
Watt, K. (2002). Mars Student Imaging Project: Resource Manuel. Retrieved March 1, Mars Student Imaging Project Web site: http://msip.asu.edu/curriculum.html. MSIP Staff: Jessica Swann, Jonathan Hill, Dr. Briony Horgan, Paige Valderrama Graff, and Mike Veto
