burk elementary proposal - arizona state university

MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

MSIP Proposal Outline I. Introduction

Science Question: Do the relative ages of craters (preserved, modified, and destroyed) in different areas of Mars share similar characteristics? Why is this question important and interesting? Our question is important because the ages of craters will help us understand the geologic processes on Mars. It is interesting because Mars has such a great number of craters of various ages.

Our Hypothesis: We hypothesize that the southern hemisphere of Mars will show craters that share similar characteristics. Because there are significantly fewer craters in the northern hemisphere, we hypothesize that a major geologic event occurred in this region.

II. Background

Photographs of Mars show that much of the planet is covered with craters. Early in the history of the solar system Mars, Earth and the other planets were bombarded with meteors that blasted craters in their surfaces. Most of Earth’s craters have been erased. Some have been eroded away by water, buried as the land changed, and some hidden by vegetation. But Mars still shows the scars of thousands of these violent collisions. The largest is the Hellas Basin, a huge depression that is 1,300 miles across and six miles deep. The crater, which resulted from a planet jarring collision long ago, would cover nearly half the United States. Four billion years ago, all of Mars was probably covered with craters. Since then, much of the land north of Mars’ equator has been flooded by lava flowing from the volcanoes in the Tharsis region and elsewhere. Many of the old impact craters in the north have been covered over, buried by lava. (The Mystery of Mars, Sally Ride, p.16) In contrast, the southern part of Mars is still covered in craters. Flowing lava has not resurfaced this part of the planet. The heavily cratered land is nearly four billion years old and has been changed very little during that time. (The Mystery of Mars, Sally Ride, p.16)

Impact craters on Mars are formed when meteorites slam into its surface displacing rock and soil, creating a bowl –shaped hole or crater. Impact craters in Mars vary in size from less than 1 km to 2,100 km in diameter. An impact crater usually has five parts, although not all of these parts are visible in all craters. The raised area around the edge of the crater is called the rim, and is material that was thrown upward by the violence of the impact that created the crater. Some of the material that was in the crater was thrown high into the air and landed outside the crater in a blanket called ejecta. Rays are a type of ejecta with long, outward pointing streaks. The walls of the crater slope down to the floor, which is often flat. If the impact was violent enough to melt the rock which became the floor of the crater, a central uplift or peak will often form. (Mapping the Surface of a Planet Student Guide, p. 1.)


Arabia Terra, Mars Malin Space Science Systems/NASA

Isidis Crater Elysium Planitia Terra Sabaea MSIP website MSIP website MSIP website Preserved crater Destroyed crater Modified crater


• How impact craters are thought to form (the geologic process) on Mars.

The Explorers Guide to Impact Craters www.psi.edu.explorecraters/front.htm


III. Experiment Design

We will use the THEMIS camera aboard the Odyssey spacecraft to gather data for our project. We will also use archived images from the HIRES camera aboard the MRO. Images from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) aboard the Mars Global Surveyor will also be referenced. We will focus on impact craters. We will be looking at preserved, modified and destroyed craters and note their locations. We will compare different regions of Mars and analyze the ages of craters. We will be focusing on the craters of the southern hemisphere and contrast them with the Tharsis Region. We will be using the following websites as resources: http://themis.asu.edu http://msip.asu.edu http://science.nasa.gov http://www.NASA/JPL/Malin We will use these websites to access photo images of Mars and then use these photos to analyze the crater features to determine ages of craters.

We will record the following information in a table from each image we observe: Ø Image identification # (V#): This will allow us and other scientists to reexamine the images

we observed to check our data. Ø Latitude and longitude: This will allow us to map where each image we examine is located Ø Specific feature(s): We will look for craters of different ages and in a variety of locations.

We will analyze craters and note size, raised rim or eroded rim, broken rim or intact rim, central peak or no central peak, flat floor or rough floor.

IV. Analysis Plan

• TABLE:

Image ID (V

#)

Lat. (N)

Long. (E)

Diameter

Raised Rim

Eroded Rim

Broken Rim

Intact Rim

Central Peak

No Central

Peak

Flat Floor

Rough Floor

Ejecta


• GRAPHS:

• MAP: We will plot our data on a map. We will use a Mola Map to show locations of craters

OTHER: We will use annotated images showing craters of various ages.

X-axis

Y-axis

Number of Craters Observed

3 Ages of Craters

Column Graph

X-axis

Y-axis

Diameter of Crater

Length of Ejecta

Line Graph

X-axis

Y-axis

Depth of

Crater

Width of Crater

Scatter Graph

-90N Longitude (E)

Latitude (N) 0 N

90N

0 E 360 E

Splosh Ejecta Non-splosh Ejecta


V. Conclusion

Science Question: Do the relative ages of craters (preserved, modified, and destroyed) in different areas of Mars share similar characteristics?

Our Hypothesis: We hypothesize that the southern hemisphere of Mars will show craters that share similar characteristics. Because there are significantly fewer craters in the northern hemisphere, we hypothesize that a major geologic event occurred in this region.

Why is this question important and interesting? Our question is important because the ages of craters will help us understand the geologic processes on Mars. The Martian environment has been changing and is very different than it was just 11,000 years ago. Earth is also changing on a similar time scale. If we understand geologic processes on other planets, it will help us to understand geologic processes on Earth.

VI. References

Ride, S. and O’Shaughnessy, T. The Mystery of Mars, San Diego, Sally Ride Science, 2006. The Explorers Guide to Impact Craters, www.psi.edu.explorecraters/front.htm Watt, K. (2002). Mapping the Surface of a Planet. Retrieved March 1, Mars Student Imaging Project Web site: http://msip.asu.edu/curriculum.html.

Watt, K. (2002). Mars Student Imaging Project: Resource Manuel. Retrieved March 1, Mars Student Imaging Project Web site: http://msip.asu.edu/curriculum.html.

burk elementary proposal - arizona state university

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