Margaritifer Terra () is an ancient, heavily cratered region of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. It is centered just south of the Martian equator at and covers 2600 km at its widest extent. The area reveals "

chaos terrain In astrogeology, chaos terrain, or chaotic terrain, is a planetary surface area where features such as ridges, cracks, and plains appear jumbled and enmeshed with one another. Chaos terrain is a notable feature of the planets Mars and Mercury, Jup ...

outflow channels Outflow channels are extremely long, wide swathes of scoured ground on Mars. They extend many hundreds of kilometers in length and are typically greater than one kilometer in width. They are thought to have been carved by huge outburst floods. ...

, and

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

plains that are indicative of massive flooding.

Wind erosion Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit materials ...

patterns are also in evidence. A region within the terra shows some of the highest valley network densities on the planet.

Ares Vallis Ares Vallis is an outflow channel on Mars, named after the Greek name for Mars: Ares, the god of war; it appears to have been carved by fluids, perhaps water. The valley 'flows' northwest out of the hilly Margaritifer Terra, where the Iani Cha ...

is another notable feature, where the flood and flow patterns are in evidence; it was the landing site of the Soviet ''

Mars 6 Mars 6 (), also known as 3MP No.50P was a Soviet spacecraft launched to explore Mars. A 3MP bus spacecraft launched as part of the Mars program, it consisted of a lander, and a coast stage with instruments to study Mars as it flew past. Spacecr ...

'' lander and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

's ''

Mars Pathfinder ''Mars Pathfinder'' (''MESUR Pathfinder'') is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight, wheeled robot ...

''. It is also one of several proposed landing sites for the Mars 2020 Rover.

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

and

Eberswalde Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German State ( Bundesland / ''federated state'') of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005), geographic ...

, craters in Margaritifer Terra, are thought to have formerly held lakes because they contain deltas and iron/magnesium smectite minerals which need water to form. The

Uzboi-Landon-Morava (ULM) The Uzboi-Landon-Morava (ULM) outflow system is a long series of channels and depressions that may have carried water across a major part of Mars. It starts with channels that drain into the Argyre basin in the Argyre quadrangle. Water ponded ...

system of paths for water flow is found in Margaritifer Terra. Researchers think that great flood channels in this region were carved quickly in just weeks or months by catastrophic outflows of groundwater. Because forming hematite requires liquid water, which could not long exist without a thick atmosphere, Mars must have had a much thicker atmosphere at some time in the past. Margaritifer Terra was named in 1979, after the Pearl Coast, south

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Part of it is found in the

Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle is also referred to as MC-19 (Mars Chart-19) ...

and part in the

Oxia Palus quadrangle The Oxia Palus quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Oxia Palus quadrangle is also referred to as MC-11 (Mars Chart-11). The quadrangle ...

Layers

Some of the images from this region display layers. Many places on Mars show rocks arranged in layers. Rock can form layers in a variety of ways. Volcanoes, wind, or water can produce layers. A detailed discussion of layering with many Martian examples can be found in ''Sedimentary Geology of Mars''. Layers can be hardened by the action of groundwater. Martian ground water probably moved hundreds of kilometers, and in the process it dissolved many minerals from the rock it passed through. When ground water surfaces in low areas containing sediments, water evaporates in the thin atmosphere and leaves behind minerals as deposits and/or cementing agents. Consequently, layers of dust could not later easily erode away since they were cemented together. Image:26996layeredwhitebuttes.jpg, Butte in Arsinoes Chaos with some light-toned layers, as seen by HiRISE under

HiWish program HiWish is a program created by NASA so that anyone can suggest a place for the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to photograph. It was started in January 2010. In the first few months of the program 3000 people signed up to use HiRIS ...

Wikiarsinoesfanswide.jpg, Light-toned deposit in Arsinoes Chaos, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). WikiESP 039352 1730lighttoneddeposit.jpg, Light-toned deposit in Arsinoes Chaos, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Note: this field can be found in the previous wide image of Arsinoes Chaos, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). File:ESP 028618 1760layers.jpg, Layered butte, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Image:ESP_024807whitebutte.jpg, Light toned butte on floor of crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Arrows show outcrops of light toned material. Light toned material is probably sulfate-rich and similar to material examined by Spirit Rover, and it once probably covered the whole floor. Other images below show enlargements of the butte. 24807whitebuttei.jpg, Enlargement of white butte, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Box shows size of a football field. 24807 1755whitebuttezoomed.jpg, Closer view towards top of white butte, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Box shows size of a football field. 24807 1755whitebuttetop.jpg, Top of white butte, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Box shows size of a football field. Image:Aureum Chaos wide context.JPG, THEMIS image of wide view of following HiRISE images. Black box shows approximate location of HiRISE images. This image is just a part of the vast area known as

Aureum Chaos Aureum Chaos is a rough, collapsed region ( chaos terrain) in the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) portion of the planet Mars at approximately 4.4° south latitude and 27° west longitude, it is also in the west of Margaritifer Terra. It is ...

. Click on image to see more details. Image:Aureum Chaos wide view.JPG, Aureum Chaos, as seen by HiRISE, under the

. Image:Aureum Chaos HiWish.JPG, Close up view of previous image, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Small round dots are boulders. Image:Canyons and Mesas of Aureum Chaos in Oxia Palus.JPG, Huge canyons in

. Gullies are rare at this latitude. Picture taken by THEMIS. Image:Aureum Chaos from Themis.JPG, Aureum Chaos, as seen from THEMIS. On April 1, 2010, NASA released the first images under the HiWish program, with the public suggesting places for HiRISE to photograph. One of the eight locations was Aureum Chaos. The first image below gives a wide view of the area. The next two images are from the HiRISE image. Image:Aureum Chaos wide context.JPG, THEMIS image of wide view of following HiRISE images. Black box shows approximate location of HiRISE images. This image is just a part of the vast area known as Aureum Chaos. Click on image to see more details. Image:Aureum Chaos wide view.JPG, Aureum Chaos, as seen by HiRISE, under the

. Image:Aureum Chaos HiWish.JPG, Close up view of previous image, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Small round dots are boulders. 042055 1580layersclose.jpg, Close up of layers in Lotto Crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program

Yardangs

WikiESP 039563 1730yardangs.jpg,

Yardangs A yardang is a streamlined protuberance carved from bedrock or any consolidated or semiconsolidated material by the dual action of wind abrasion by dust and sand and deflation (the removal of loose material by wind turbulence.) Yardangs become ...

formed in light-toned material and surrounded by dark, volcanic basalt sand, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. WikiESP 039563 1730yardangsclose.jpg, Close-up image of yardangs, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Arrows point to transverse aeolian ridges, TAR's, a type of dune. Note this is an enlargement of the previous image from HiRISE. 48582 1845layersyardangs.jpg, Yardangs and layers, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Arrows point to some yardangs.

Other images of Margaritifer Terra

ESP 045800 1540channel.jpg, Channel, as seen by HiRISE, under HiWish program ESP 048582 1845hangingvalleys.jpg, Hanging valleys in

Aram Chaos Aram Chaos, centered at 2.6°N, 21.5°W, is a heavily eroded impact crater on Mars. It lies at the eastern end of the large canyon Valles Marineris and close to Ares Vallis. Various geological processes have reduced it to a circular area of chaot ...

, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program

References

{{Reflist

External links

Lakes on Mars - Nathalie Cabrol
(SETI Talks) Terrae on Mars Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle Oxia Palus quadrangle

Layers

Yardangs

Other images of Margaritifer Terra

See also

References

External links