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Mars Gravity and Topography InterpretationsNew models of the topography of Mars and its gravity field from the Mars Global Surveyor mission are shedding new light on the structure of the planet and the state of isostatic compensation. Gravity field observations over the flat northern hemisphere plains show a number of anomalies at the 100 to 200 mGal level that have no apparent manifestation in the surface topography. We believe that these anomalies are probably the result of ancient impacts and represent regions of denser material buried beneath the outer depositional crust. Similar anomalies are also found in the region of the north polar ice cap even though a gravity anomaly resulting from the 3 km high icecap has not been uniquely identified. This leads us to speculate that the ice cap is largely compensated and is older than the timescale of isostatic compensation, about 10(exp 15) years.
Document ID
19990076710
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Zuber, Maria T.
(Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA United States)
Smith, David E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Solomon, Sean C.
(Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, DC United States)
Phillips, Roger J.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Meeting Information
Meeting: General Assembly
Location: The Hague
Country: Netherlands
Start Date: April 19, 1999
End Date: April 23, 1999
Sponsors: European Geophysical Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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