Geology of Mars

Lindy Newman
GEOL 250
Spring 2013

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INTRODUCTION
Mars, for a large portion of human history, has been an enigma. Seen only faintly through
telescopes, features of its surface geology let alone mineralogy or stratigraphy were
completely indistinguishable. As technology has rapidly updated, so has our understanding of
our planetary neighbor, and a surprising amount of information has been unearthed from Mars
rocky red dust.
The fourth planet from the sun, Mars has drastically lower temperatures than Earth,
ranging from well above freezing to -200 degrees Celsius. It is also much smaller than its
neighboring planet, with a circumference of roughly 21,000 km and an average density of 3.93
g/cm3 (compared to Earths 40,000 km and 5.52 g/cm3). Due to its small size, Mars also does not
have as much gravity as Earth, so its atmosphere is much thinner. Mars atmospheric pressure is
0.69 psi, or about 0.6% of Earths. Topographically, it is a planet dominated by volcanoes and
rocky, unforgiving terrain. The Martian Dichotomy is a topographic anomaly (to be discussed at
greater length in the Surface Features section) marked by smooth, new rock and thin crust on the
northern third of the planet, and a sharp change into thicker crust and more cratered, highelevation terrain on the southern two-thirds (see Figure A1 for an elevation map clearly showing
the dichotomy).
Historically, Mars had been studied only from afar. Surface features illuminated by the
sun and visible through a telescope, now called albedo features, were thoroughly examined by
early astronomers. They theorized that the lighter portions were snow or ice caps, while the
darker areas may have been seas or forests, changing contrast with Martian seasons. Human
exploration of Mars did not start until the Space Race in the 1960s when the Soviet Union
launched their fly-by probes into space, and since then, earth and planetary scientists have made

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leaps and bounds in uncovering the history of the red planet. Currently, there are five active
missions on Mars; two rovers, the well-publicized Curiosity and 2004s Opportunity (launched
with a sister rover Sprit, who stopped sending data in 2010), and three orbiters: Odyssey,
Express, and Reconnaisance. These machines, equipped with chemical analysis tools, laser
spectrometers, incredibly high-definition cameras, and countless other devices, have been
sending information to Earth since 2001. Especially as of late with Curiositys launch being so
recently in the past, information about soil composition, topography, and Mars elusive past has
been more available than ever.
COMPOSITION
Martian soil is largely what one would expect from a volcanic dominated planet. Samples
taken from Curiosity were mineralogically analogous to basalt, with high concentrations of mafic
minerals like olivine, pyroxene, and feldspar. The Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO),
equipped with a visible and near-infrared spectrometer, was also able to detect very low levels of
siderophile and chalcophile elements. Siderophiles are certain transition metals like Ni and Co
that bond very readily with iron, and chalcophiles such as Cu and Zn bond readily with sulfur.
The significance of these minerals is that they provide an important clue to the core composition
of Mars: these elements are depleted on the surface most likely because they have been trapped
in a sulfur- and iron-rich core (Longhi et al., 1992). About half of the soil collected was dust and
rock and the other half was volcanic glass, also typical for a highly volcanically active planet like
Mars (NASA, 2012). In addition to the typical igneous minerals, there are some species that open
up windows into the history of Mars.
Phyllosilicates are a class of silicate that form sheets of silica tetrahedrons and
octahedrons with a Si:O ratio of 2:5 (Si2O5). There are dozens of minerals under this class, but

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the hydrous aluminum phyllosilicates are unique because they are formed under interaction with
water. Silica minerals are formed through normal igneous processes, emerge in a natural
anhydrous phase, then interact with water and incorporate O or OH into their chemical structures
(Ehlmann, 2011). Knowing this, it can be determined which rocks have been exposed to water,
and under what conditions. The types of clay minerals that form under warm, damp conditions
close to the surface of the crust have been found abundantly (see Figure A2), but spots bearing
material indicative of surface water have come few and far between (NASA, 2011).
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
Timeline
The geologic history of Mars is divided into three main systems (sometimes referred to as
epochs): Noachian, Hesperian, and Amazonian, getting progressively older. The Noachian and
Amazonian are divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower, and Hesperian is divided into Upper and
Lower. These time periods were established by examining the stratigraphic relationships between
rocks, specifically their crater densities. Rocks that have been around for less time have had less
time to be impacted by craters, so theoretically, by counting the number of large, medium, and
small craters on any given stratigraphic unit, one can estimate a relative (and even an absolute)
age for that unit. Lower Noachian crust is pockmarked with large, high-impact craters, while
Upper Amazonian crust is comparatively smooth (see Figure A3 for a table of crater density
data). Inevitably, there are discrepancies in timelines, two of which Tanaka has presented (see
fig. 2): Model 1 is from Neukum & Wise, and Model 2 is from Hartmann et al. I chose to use
Neukum & Wises version of the timeline because most of the papers I read seemed to use this
time scale (Tanaka, 1986).

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The Noachian system is characterized by rapid formation and cooling of the planet,
turbulent tectonic activity, and possibly even liquid water. It spans the time from Mars
formation (4.6 bya) to 3.5 billion years
ago. During the early Noachian, a long
period of intense crater-forming took
place as leftover meteorites barraged
the Martian planetesimal. The ancient
crust of the southern highlands is
heavily cratered, and though the
northern portion of Mars has recently
been destroyed and recreated (and is
thus comparatively free of craters),

some heavily cratered remnants of the land

before this resurfacing exist. These
craters are especially well-preserved

Figure 1. Geologic time scale with estimated absolute ages

for each period. Model 1 chronologies are derived from
Nekum & Wise (1976). Model 2 chronologies are derived
from Hartmann et al. (1981). Figure adapted from Tanaka,
1986.

because at this time, the crust was extremely thick and fairly pliable at the surface, meaning that
craters left from the Noachian have been subject to fewer stresses (gravity creep, heating, etc.)
than other impacts. Towards the middle to end of the Noachian system, bombardment from
meteors slowed down significantly and the newer landscapes formed in this period had fewer
large craters than the ones that came before. This time period also becomes significant in
discussions of tectonism, magnetism, and other topics to be discussed later in this paper (Tanaka,
1986).

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The Hesperian and Noachian systems mark a calming of crater bombardment, but an
acceleration of volcanic activity. The Hesperian system, stretching from 3.5 to 1.8 bya, is only
the beginning of a long period of volcanism and tectonic activity in the history of Mars. During
this period, the Tharsis Montes volcanoes were forming and expanding rapidly, and calderas like
the one on Syrtis Major (a volcano located closer to Elysium) were spreading thin, low-viscosity
sheet lava. The Amazonian system, taking Mars from 1.8 bya to the present, showed steadily
heavy volcanic activity and even increased activity in some places (Tanaka, 1986).
Magnetism
Today, Mars lacks a global magnetic field like Earths. There are no set north and south
poles or predictable lines of magnetism across the rocky surface; instead, there are crustal
vestiges of a magnetized Mars that once was present. Much like on Earth (though in less regular
patterns), there are bands of magnetized crust that reflect polar inclinations in the planets past.
Most of this magnetism is confined to the ancient southern highlands, though there are some
gaps around Hellas and Argyre Planitiae (see Figure A4 for map showing magnetic bands).
Magnetism on Earth is caused by the motion and convection of its core. When the liquid
iron outer core moves against the solid iron inner core, the familiar magnetic field is generated
and can be sustained (barring the occasional pole reversal) on geologic time scales.
Unfortunately, without the seismic observations that have been collected on earth, the nature of
Mars core is not known. As was discussed previously, low levels of siderophiles and
chalcophiles point to a core rich in sulfur and iron, but even this data is inconclusive. Mars
magnetic fields, while oddly spaced, are a great deal stronger than Earths global magnetism.
The strength of these magnetic fields can reach up to 30 A/m, while their earthbound
counterparts are a whole order of magnitude lower (Stevenson, 2001).

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SURFACE FEATURES
Volcanism & Tharsis History
Mars rocky terrain is littered with broad shield volcanoes and calderas. There are about
twenty large volcanoes on the surface of Mars, although to our knowledge, none of them are
currently active. Despite the red planets comparatively small size, its volcanoes easily dwarf
those on Earth. On earth, mid-plate hotspots fuel volcanoes that are not fed by subducting plates;
as the tectonic plates move across these hotspots, they leave trails of volcanoes that are active,
then promptly become extinct when they move too far away from the magma chamber. On Mars
however, there is no movement of plates to carry a volcano away from its hotspot. A volcano
will eject lava and pyroclastic material until it collapses on itself and forms a caldera, then restarts several million years later (Neukum et al., 2004).
Volcanoes on Mars are not active or dormant in the way Earths volcanoes are. In some
of the larger shield volcanoes, stratigraphic evidence has been found supporting the scenario of
multiple collapses and calderas formed for each one. In the period between a caldera collapse
and volcanic activity, subsurface magma has to lie dormant for some time and solidify. To have
gone through multiple periods of caldera collapse and active volcanism, a volcanic vent needs to
have been intermittently fed rather than have a continuous source of magma. These periods can
be as many as 2 billion years apart, or, in the case of Olympus Mons, as few as 20 million years
(Neukum et al., 2004).
Though volcanism affects nearly every region, no area of Mars is quite so important to
the study of volcanology as the Tharsis region. Tharsis is a large, high-elevation area marked by
its massive volcanoes and thickened crust; it is of particular interest to geologists because it is

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one of the most apparent examples of past tectonic and volcanic activity that exists on Mars
today.
The history of the Tharsis region is not well understood, but some sort of chronology has
been established. In its beginning,
the area started out as a lava plain,
rapidly accumulating volcanic basalt
deposits. Heavily cratered mafic
rocks, especially prominent around
the Lunae Planum plateau, pre-date
Hesperian faulting, and combining
this observation with crater density,
it was determined that they were
deposited early into the Noachian
period (Tanaka, 1986). However,

Figure 2. Evolution of the Tharsis region of Mars. Adapted from Wise et.
al., 1979.

many of these Noachian units are

Figure 2. History of the Tharsis region of Mars. Adapted from Tanaka (1986).

still visible on the surface, so Tharsis elevation is likely due more to crustal uplift rather than
volcanic deposition. Deep magmatic intrusions, shown in image (b) of Figure 3, pushed the crust
up and the newly uplifted and heated ground slowly spread out under the force of gravity. When
magma from the mantle finally worked its way up to the surface at the beginning of the
Hesperian, the massive shield volcanoes started formation. Because the crust nearest the northern
lowlands is thinner than the rest of Mars crust, the volcanoes positions tend toward the northern
edge of the Tharsis area (Wise, 1979). Volcanism in Tharsis has continued up until very recently

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and may still be active today. As was stated earlier, these vents are fed intermittently, so they
could become active again in the future.
Evidence of Liquid Water
Presently, Mars is too cold and has an atmospheric pressure far too low to sustain liquid
water; even if temperatures rise above freezing, the atmosphere is so thin that the water simply
sublimates into a gas. However, there are several key surface features on Mars that point to the
existence of water in its liquid state on Mars. An example previously mentioned was the
phyllosilicates present in Martian soil, indicating sustained water flow through the soil. Also,
some of Mars surface shows contraction-crack polygons, a feature typically associated with
permafrost. However, these cracks are far too large to be attributed to normal freezing and
melting of ice. These patterns can instead be attributed to several possible scenarios, all
involving liquid water: tectonic activity under a basin,
convective water currents in floodwaters over a layer of
permafrost, or the drying up of a still body of water like
an ocean or a lake. Some of these cracked surfaces are
very lightly cratered, indicating that liquid water was
present in the very recent geologic history (Baker,
Figure 3. Contraction-crack polygons on the
surface of Mars. Black scale bar at bottom
right is 200m. Adapted from Baker, 2001.

2001).

The large Martian outflow channels (Tiu, Simud, Mangala, Ares, and Kasei Valles) have
a very unique morphology: wide, rectangular channels that fit neither glacial nor fluvial models
(see Figure A5) (Baker, 2001). These channels are massive, the largest of them stretching 150km
across and 2,000km in length. Although the circumstances under which these formed are not
exactly known, this particular channel shape is analogous to an Earth-based outflow channel in

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the Pacific Northwest called the Channeled Scablands. The Scablands were identified in the
1920s by J. Harlen Brentz, who theorized that the shape must be caused by a massive and
fleeting episode of flooding. The theory was largely dismissed until thirty years later, when Lake
Missoula, currently dammed with ice, was shown to be able to provide the volume of water
necessary for the model calculations. Discharges as colossal as 21.3 106 m3/sec flooded into
the basin, and lasted from one day to a week or two. We do not currently know the source or the
sequence of events that formed the Martian outflow channels, but they bear striking
morphological resemblance to the Scablands formations: wide channels with low sinuosity that
come apart and rejoin (anastomose) frequently. The area before flooding was likely smooth,
probably with an existing river valley, and when the flooding caused the river to repeatedly
overflow its banks, the anastomosing channels started to develop (Baker, 1974).
In addition to the physical effects of liquid water, the character of water movement has
also differed throughout Mars history. In ancient, heavily cratered landscapes, water is shown to
have cut through outflow channels fairly quickly. In newer sections of land, this rate seems to
decrease significantly, and channels are not as deep or morphologically mature. Rates of water
erosion during the Noachian system range from 100 to 10,000 mm of crust per hundred million
years; in the Hesperian and on, these numbers change to 0.1 0.01 mm/108 years (Baker, 2001).
CONCLUSION
Despite our distance from Mars and the technological limitations of space travel, humans
have uncovered an incredible amount of knowledge about the red planet. Unmanned projects
have been operating on the surface of Mars since the Sojourner Rover in 1997 and continue to do
so today with the well-hyped Curiosity. Satellites in Martian orbit like the Mas Orbiter Laser
Altimiter (MOLA) can take high-resolution photographs and carry out observations with laser

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and radio technology. Scientists have now discovered the chemical composition of Martian soil
and the mafic, basaltic minerals that make up the crust. Using incredibly high-resolution photos,
crater counts have been established and stratigraphic units corresponding to a geologic time scale
have been identified; we have begun to piece together a magnetic history for a planet with no
global magnetism left. Histories and planetary evolutions that stretch across geologic time have
been preliminarily laid out, and we know sequences of events for structures that no human has
ever even seen in person.
Even with all of this, there is still much we do not know about our own planetary
neighbor. Satellites in orbit can gather a wealth of information simply by flying overhead, and
rovers can collect samples and perform many different lab tests, but there is no substitute for
manned missions to Mars. As technology develops, we move closer and closer to a better picture
of its history and its current state. Many have identified Mars as a potential relocation spot for a
not-too-distant future in which the Earth has been destroyed too devastatingly for humans to
continue living there, but some think the investment far too great for only a potential reward.
Some people think that understanding Mars helps us understand Earths climate and geology, as
well as our delicate balance of life. Some believe in space exploration for the sake of exploration,
pulling on a deep, nomadic human instinct. Whatever the reason for exploring Mars, there is a
treasure trove of knowledge waiting for the human race on this adjacent planet.

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APPENDIX

Figure A1. Labelled elevation map of Mars. Note that some maps may be flipped E-W, with Tharsis on the right
side and Elysium on the left.

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Figure A2. Distribution of clay minerals on Mars. Each point represents a location surveyed by
Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM); colored points are placed in
locations where clay minerals have been found, and white points are locations that were
surveyed but returned no clay minerals. Adapted from Ehlmann, 2011.

Appendix A3. Crater densities for each Martian geologic system. N(x) is the number of craters
of x or greater diameter per 100,000 km2. Adapted from Tanaka, 1986.

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Figure A4. Map showing bands of Martian magnetic crust. Adapted from Neal-Jones &
OCarroll, 2005.

Figure A5. Channel morphologies in two Martian outflow channels (N. Kasei and Ares) and
analogous terrestrial rivers. Missoula is the channel corresponding to the Channeled Scabland.
Note the massive scale difference between Martian and terrestrial channels. Adapted from Baker,
2001.

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