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Impact Constraints on the Age and Origin of the Crustal Dichotomy on MarsMOLA data have revealed a large population of "Quasi-Circular Depressions" (QCDs) with little or no visible expression in image data. These likely buried impact basins have important implications for the age of the lowland crust, how that compares with original highland crust, and when and how the crustal dichotomy may have formed. The buried lowlands are of Early Noachian age, likely slightly younger than the buried highlands but older than the exposed (visible) highland surface. A depopulation of large visible basins at diameters 800 to 1300 km suggests some global scale event early in martian history, maybe related to the formation of the lowlands andor the development of Tharsis. A suggested early disappearance of the global magnetic field can be placed within a temporal sequence of formation of the very largest impact basins. The global field appears to have disappeared at about the time the lowlands formed. It seems likely the topographic crustal dichotomy was produced very early in martian history by processes which operated very quickly. This and the preservation of large relic impact basins in the north- em hemisphere, which themselves can account for the lowland topography, suggest that large impacts played the major role in the origin Mars fundamental crustal feature.
Document ID
20040200929
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Frey, H. V.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Publication Information
Publication: Workshop on Hemispheres Apart: The Origin and Modification of The Martian Crustal Dichotomy
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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