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.