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Martian Global Geography



This map shows a portion of the surface of Mars.
Click on image for full size version (163K GIF)
Image from: NASA
The surface of Mars can be broken into two main regions: highlands and lowlands. The highlands are in the southern hemisphere (the bottom of the figure), and the lowlands are in the northern hemisphere of Mars (top of the figure). The lowlands contain the Tharsis Ridge, where many of the largest volcanoes of Mars are located. Next to the Tharsis Ridge is Valles Marineris, a very long canyon of Mars. The high resolution topographic map, which can be viewed by clicking on the image to the left, shows these regions in better detail. Measurements returned by Mars Global surveyor demonstrate the severe height difference between these two regions of Mars.

The highlands are heavily cratered. They are the oldest portion of Mars. Even though the lowlands are younger, they do have craters and so have not really been resurfaced since the end of the period of cratering which marked the earliest portion of the history of the planet.

Not seen clearly in this image are the Martian polar caps. Besides ice, the southern polar region of Mars contains other interesting geologic features such as layered terrain and giant sanddunes. This region was suppose to be explored by the Mars '98 mission.

Careful examination of this map reveals no evidence of the kind of plate tectonics which can be seen in the Earth's crust.

What about terrestrial Plate Tectonics?


Martian Global Geography



This map shows a portion of the surface of Mars.
Click on image for full size version (163K GIF)
Image from: NASA
The surface of Mars consists of highlands and lowlands. The highlands are in the southern hemisphere (the bottom of the figure), and the lowlands are in the northern hemisphere of Mars (top of the figure). The lowlands contain the Tharsis Ridge, where many of the largest volcanoes of Mars are located. Next to the Tharsis Ridge is Valles Marineris, a very long canyon of Mars. The high resolution topographic map, which can be viewed by clicking on the image to the left, shows these regions in better detail. Measurements returned by Mars Global surveyor demonstrate the severe height difference between these two regions of Mars.

The highlands have tons of craters. They are the oldest portion of Mars. The lowlands are younger and so do not contain as many craters as the highlands.

Not seen clearly in this image are the Martian polar caps. Besides ice, the southern polar region of Mars contains other interesting geologic features such as layered terrain and giant sanddunes. This region was suppose to be explored by the Mars '98 mission.

What about Continental Drift on Earth?


Martian Global Geography



This map shows a portion of the surface of Mars.
Click on image for full size version (163K GIF)
Image from: NASA
The surface of Mars can be broken into two parts, the highlands and lowlands. The highlands are in the southern hemisphere (the bottom of the picture). The lowlands are in the northern hemisphere of Mars (top of the picture). The highlands are called that because as a whole, they are much higher than the lowlands.

The highlands are the oldest part of Mars. They have tons of craters. The lowlands are younger. They contain the Tharsis Ridge, where many of the largest volcanoes of Mars are located.

The Mars Global Surveyor mission is taking a lot of measurements about the surface of Mars.



Last modified April 27, 2001 by the Windows Team

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