By 
July 14th, 2014
Credit: USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey has issued a new global geologic map of Mars –the most thorough representation of the Red Planet’s surface.
“This map provides a framework for continued scientific investigation of Mars as the long-range target for human space exploration,” according to a USGS press statement.
The new map brings together observations and scientific findings from four orbiting spacecraft that have been acquiring data for more than 16 years.
The USGS-led mapping effort reveals that the Martian surface is generally older than previously thought. Three times as much surface area dates to the first major geologic time period – the Early Noachian Epoch – than was previously mapped.
This timeframe is the earliest part of the Noachian Period, which ranges from about 4.1 to about 3.7 billion years ago, and was characterized by high rates of meteorite impacts, widespread erosion of the Martian surface and the likely presence of abundant surface water.
Geologically active
The just issued map also confirms previous work that suggests Mars had been geologically active until the present day.
There is evidence that major changes in Mars’ global climate supported the temporary presence of surface water and near-surface groundwater and ice. These changes were likely responsible for many of the major shifts in the environments where Martian rocks were formed and subsequently eroded.
According to the USGS, this new map will serve as a key reference for the origin, age and historic change of geological materials anywhere on Mars.
The project was funded by NASA through its Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program. The production of planetary cartographic products has been a focal point of research at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center since its inception in the early 1960s.
The new geologic map of Mars is available for download online by going to:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3292/
A rotating map of Mars animation can be viewed here:
Posted in Space News
