Michael C. Malin

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera: Interplanetary Cruise through Primary Mission

More than 3 years of high-resolution (1.5–20 m/pixel) photographic observations of the surface of Mars have dramatically changed our view of that planet. Among the most important observations and interpretations derived therefrom are that much of Mars, at least to depths of several kilometers, is layered; that substantial portions of the planet have experienced burial and subsequent exhumation; that layered and massive units, many kilometers thick, appear to reflect an ancient period of large-scale erosion and deposition within what are now the ancient heavily cratered regions of Mars; and that processes previously unsuspected, including gully-forming fluid action and burial and exhumation of large tracts of land, have operated within near-contemporary times. These and many other attributes of the planet argue for a complex geology and complicated history.

Present-Day Impact Cratering Rate and Contemporary Gully Activity on Mars

The Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera has acquired data that establish the present-day impact cratering rate and document new deposits formed by downslope movement of material in mid-latitude gullies on Mars. Twenty impacts created craters 2 to 150 meters in diameter within an area of 21.5 × 106 square kilometers between May 1999 and March 2006. The values predicted by models that scale the lunar cratering rate to Mars are close to the observed rate, implying that surfaces devoid of craters are truly young and that as yet unrecognized processes of denudation must be operating. The new gully deposits, formed since August 1999, are light toned and exhibit attributes expected from emplacement aided by a fluid with the properties of liquid water: relatively long, extended, digitate distal and marginal branches, diversion around obstacles, and low relief. The observations suggest that liquid water flowed on the surface of Mars during the past decade.

Thermal emission spectrometer experiment: Mars Observer mission

Thermal infrared spectral measurements will be made of the surface and atmosphere of Mars by the thermal emission spectrometer (TES) on board Mars Observer. By using these observations the composition of the surface rocks, minerals, and condensates will be determined and mapped. In addition, the composition and distribution of atmospheric dust and condensate clouds, together with temperature profiles of the CO2 atmosphere, will be determined. Broadband solar reflectance and thermal emittance measurements will also be made to determine the energy balance in the polar regions and to map the thermophysical properties of the surface. The specific science objectives of this investigation are to determine (1) the composition and distribution of surface materials, (2) the composition, particle size, and spatial and temporal distribution of suspended dust, (3) the location, temperature, height, and water abundance of H2O clouds, (4) the composition, seasonal behavior, total energy balance, and physical properties of the polar caps, and (5) the particle size distribution of rocks and fines on the surface. The instrument consists of three subsections: a Michelson interferometer, a solar reflectance sensor, and a broadband radiance sensor. The spectrometer covers the wavelength range from 6 to 50 μm (∼1600–200 cm−1) with nominal 5 and 10 cm−1 spectral resolution. The solar reflectance band extends from 0.3 to 2.7 μm; the broadband radiance channel extends from 5.5 to 100 μm. There are six 8.3-mrad fields of view for each sensor arranged in a 3 × 2 array, each with 3-km resolution at the nadir. Uncooled deuterated triglycine sulphate (DTGS) pyroelectic detectors provide a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of over 500 at 10 μm for daytime spectral observations at a surface temperature of 270 K. The SNR of the albedo and thermal bolometers will be approximately 2000 at the peak signal levels expected. The instrument is 23.6 × 35.5 × 40.0 cm, with a mass of 14.4 kg and an average power consumption of 14.5 W. The approach will be to measure the spectral properties of thermal energy emitted from the surface and atmosphere. Emission phase angle studies and day-night observations will be used to separate the spectral character of the surface and atmosphere. The distinctive thermal infrared spectral features present in minerals, rocks, and condensates will be used to determine the mineralogic and petrologic character of the surface and to identify and study aerosols and volatiles in the atmosphere.

Mars Observer camera

The Mars Observer camera (MOC) is a three-component system (one narrow-angle and two wide-angle cameras) designed to take high spatial resolution pictures of the surface of Mars and to obtain lower spatial resolution, synoptic coverage of the planets surface and atmosphere. The cameras are based on the “push broom” technique; that is, they do not take “frames” but rather build pictures, one line at a time, as the spacecraft moves around the planet in its orbit. MOC is primarily a telescope for taking extremely high resolution pictures of selected locations on Mars. Using the narrow-angle camera, areas ranging from 2.8 km × 2.8 km to 2.8 km × 25.2 km (depending on available internal digital buffer memory) can be photographed at about 1.4 m/pixel. Additionally, lower-resolution pictures (to a lowest resolution of about 11 m/pixel) can be acquired by pixel averaging; these images can be much longer, ranging up to 2.8 × 500 km at 11 m/pixel. High-resolution data will be used to study sediments and sedimentary processes, polar processes and deposits, volcanism, and other geologic/geomorphic processes. The MOC wide-angle cameras are capable of viewing Mars from horizon to horizon and are designed for low-resolution global and intermediate resolution regional studies. Low-resolution observations can be made every orbit, so that in a single 24-hour period a complete global picture of the planet can be assembled at a resolution of at least 7.5 km/pixel. Regional areas (covering hundreds of kilometers on a side) may be photographed at a resolution of better than 250 m/pixel at the nadir. Such images will be particularly useful in studying time-variable features such as lee clouds, the polar cap edge, and wind streaks, as well as acquiring stereoscopic coverage of areas of geological interest. The limb can be imaged at a vertical and along-track resolution of better than 1.5 km. Different color filters within the two wide-angle cameras permit color images of the surface and atmosphere to be made to distinguish between clouds and the ground and between clouds of different composition.

Voluminous volcanism on early Mars revealed in Valles Marineris

The relative rates and importance of impact cratering, volcanism, erosion, and the deposition of sediments to the early geological history of Mars are poorly known. That history is recorded in the upper crust of the planet, which is best exposed along the 4,000-km-long canyon system called Valles Marineris. Previous studies of the stratigraphy of this region have assumed that it consists of megabreccia and fractured bedrock resulting from impacts, overlain by or interbedded with relatively thin layers of lava, and with the layering restricted to the uppermost level of the crust. Here we report new high-resolution images that reveal ubiquitous horizontal layering to depths of at least 8 km in the canyons. Megabreccia should be only coarsely layered and fractured bedrock should be unlayered, so these observations indicate that volcanic or sedimentary processes were much more important in early martian history than previously believed. Morphological and compositional data suggest that the layers were formed mainly by volcanic flood lavas. Mars was therefore probably very volcanically active during at least the first billion years and after the period when the heaviest impact bombardment had ended.

Evidence for recent volcanism on Mars from crater counts

Impact craters help characterize the age of a planetary surface, because they accumulate with time. They also provide useful constraints on the importance of surface erosion, as such processes will preferentially remove the smaller craters. Earlier studies of martian crater populations revealed that erosion and dust deposition are important processes on Mars. They disagreed, however, on the age of the youngest volcanism, . These earlier studies were limited by image resolution to craters larger than a few hundred metres in diameter. Here we report an analysis, using new images obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, of crater populations that extend the size distribution down to about 16 m. Our results indicate a wide range of surface ages, with one region—lava flows within the Arsia Mons caldera—that we estimate to be no older than 40–100 million years. We suggest that volcanism is a continuing process on Mars.

New views of Mars eolian activity, materials, and surface properties: Three vignettes from the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

Prior to the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission, a very general view had emerged in which Martian surface materials were seen as consisting of a mixture of bright dust, dark sand, and rocks. The configuration of these materials and the winds that transport and deposit sand and dust have been thought to be directly linked to the albedo patterns that have been observed on Mars for centuries. High spatial resolution images (1.4–20 m/pixel) obtained by the MGS Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) between September 15, 1997, and July 4, 1999, provide new information about the physical nature of the windblown material on the Martian surface and show that the pre-MGS view was much too simple. In addition to bright dust and dark sand, MOC images show evidence of bright sediment that can be transported by saltation (e.g., sand) and dark material that can be transported in suspension (e.g., silt). New views of eolian wind streaks in Daedalia Planum show that part of this region, thought to be mantled by bright dust based upon Viking and Mariner observations, is instead covered by a thin veneer of bright, windblown sand. MOC images of Sinus Sabaeus and parts of Syrtis Major, two regions thought to be sandy based upon Viking era observations, exhibit thick mantles that are inferred to consist of fine-grained sediment deposited from eolian suspension. Low albedo wind streaks in western Arabia Terra are also dark mantles, and their association with eroded crater floors and megaripples/dunes on these floors suggest that these particular wind streaks are deposits of silt-sized material that was only briefly suspended before settling to the surface. MOC images also show evidence that some eolian dunes are active on Mars today (i.e., in 1998 and 1999); the evidence for activity is largely based upon wind-and avalanche-induced streaks superposed on or eroded into seasonal frost on high-latitude dune fields. MOC images show that some other dunes are inactive, but the albedo of dunes relative to surrounding terrain is not a good indicator of dune activity because some inactive dunes are not mantled by dust. Inactive dunes are best identified by superposed features such as impact craters, landslide deposits, and yardangs.

Mass movement slope streaks imaged by the Mars Orbiter Camera

Narrow, fan-shaped dark streaks on steep Martian slopes were originally observed in Viking Orbiter images, but a definitive explanation was not possible because of resolution limitations. Pictures acquired by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) aboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft show innumerable examples of dark slope streaks distributed widely, but not uniformly, across the brighter equatorial regions, as well as individual details of these features that were not visible in Viking Orbiter data. Dark slope streaks (as well as much rarer bright slope streaks) represent one of the most widespread and easily recognized styles of mass movement currently affecting the Martian surface. New dark streaks have formed since Viking and even during the MGS mission, confirming earlier suppositions that higher contrast dark streaks are younger, and fade (brighten) with time. The darkest slope streaks represent ∼10% contrast with surrounding slope materials. No small outcrops supplying dark material (or bright material, for bright streaks) have been found at streak apexes. Digitate downslope ends indicate slope streak formation involves a ground-hugging flow subject to deflection by minor topographic obstacles. The model we favor explains most dark slope streaks as scars from dust avalanches following oversteepening of air fall deposits. This process is analogous to terrestrial avalanches of oversteepened dry, loose snow which produce shallow avalanche scars with similar morphologies. Low angles of internal friction typically 10–30i for terrestrial loess and clay materials suggest that mass movement of (low-cohesion) Martian dusty air fall is possible on a wide range of gradients. Martian gravity, presumed low density of the air fall deposits, and thin (unresolved by MOC) failed layer depths imply extremely low cohesive strength at time of failure, consistent with expectations for an air fall deposit of dust particles. As speed increases during a dust avalanche, a growing fraction of the avalanching dust particles acquires sufficient kinetic energy to be lost to the atmosphere in suspension, limiting the momentum of the descending avalanche front. The equilibrium speed, where rate of mass lost to the atmosphere is balanced by mass continually entrained as the avalanche front descends, decreases with decreasing gradient. This mechanism explains observations from MOC images indicating slope streaks formed with little reserve kinetic energy for run-outs on to valley floors and explains why large distal deposits of displaced material are not found at downslope streak ends. The mass movement process of dark (and bright) slope streak formation through dust avalanches involves renewable sources of dust only, leaving underlying slope materials unaffected. Areas where dark and bright slope streaks currently form and fade in cycles are closely correlated with low thermal inertia and probably represent regions where dust currently is accumulating, not just residing.

Oceans or seas in the Martian northern lowlands: High resolution imaging tests of proposed coastlines

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera images that were targeted specifically to observe locations where published accounts argue for the presence of landforms created by the interaction of a large body of water with Martian topography fail to reveal any evidence to support the hypothesis that the northern lowlands were once the site of oceans or seas. Given the difficulty of identifying ancient coastlines on Earth from orbital and aerial photography in the absence of field work, this result does not preclude the possibility that Mars once had large standing bodies of water on its surface, but calls into question shorelines previously proposed.

Surface modification of Venus as inferred from Magellan observations of plains

In Sedna Planitia, clear stratigraphic relations can be discerned among volcanic flow units. Young flows exhibit SAR specific cross section values similar to fresh terrestrial basalt flows, whereas older flows exhibit backscatter signatures similar to degraded terrestrial basalt flows. Total degradation of ∼1 m depth over ∼0.6 b.y. is inferred for the Sedna area from radar signatures, impact crater abundances, and ejecta superposition relations with respect to volcanic flow units. Analyses of parabolic ejecta deposits associated with the crater Stuart imply that the material is typically centimeters in thickness. A relatively small fraction (∼10%) of Venusian impact craters exhibit prominent parabolic ejecta deposits. These craters are interpreted to be relatively young and parabolic deposits are interpreted to be dispersed by aeolian activity over at least tens of millions of years. The inferred dispersal rate (<10−3 μm/yr) is too low to produce the degradation of flows at Sedna Planitia, and it is concluded that the dominant flow modification process is in situ weathering. In addition, elevation dependent weathering is inferred in western Ovda Regio, where plains above 6054 km radius have enhanced reflection coefficients as compared to adjacent plains at lower elevations. The inferred rate of generation of high reflection coefficient materials is no more than ∼10−2μm/yr, based on the inability of aeolian activity to cover high-reflectivity surfaces with normal reflection coefficient materials and the ubiquitous nature of high-reflectivity surfaces at high elevations. Surface modification rates on Venus are orders of magnitude lower than on Earth. Venusian rates are also much lower than the inferred rate of aeolian dispersal of friable materials on Mars but are comparable to the estimated rate of weathering and erosion of Martian bedrock. Low surface modification rates imply that it will be possible to determine regional-scale age variations on Venus based on the degree of preservation of volcanic landforms and microwave signatures.