Mars is so big, I want to see it: eight must-see attractions on Mars

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Author: Elizabeth Howell

Translation: Zhang Yanbin

Proofreading: Wang Jingyu, Wang Rong, Yang Boxun, Zhang Yuchen< /p>

Reviewer: Mufu proofreading team

Backstage: Kutliavka Li Ziqi

Journey to Mars

Credit: Starry Night software

Mars is a very unique planet - huge volcanoes, deep canyons, and craters that may harbor flowing water. In the future, once we colonize Mars, Mars will surely become a tourist destination. Considering practical and safety factors, future Mars landing sites may be flat plains, but don’t worry, we can choose to land closer to the following “attractions”.

Olympus Mons

Credit: NASA/MOLA Science Team/ O. de Goursac, Adrian Lark

Olympus Mons is the highest mountain in the solar system A volcano located in the Tharsis Volcanic Area. According to NASA, it is about the size of Arizona (two Liaoning provinces) in the United States. It is 25 kilometers high, almost three times as high as Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth (Everest is about 8,900 meters high).

Olympus Mons is a massive shield volcano that was formed when magma slowly flowed down its slopes. This means that this volcano is suitable for tourists to climb because its average slope is only 5%. Its highest point is a magnificent depression, 85 kilometers wide, formed by the eruption and collapse of a magma chamber.

When you climb Mount Olympus, you can also stop and look at other volcanoes in the Tharsis region. There are 12 giant volcanoes in an area of ??4,000 kilometers. Similar to Olympus Mons, these volcanoes are much higher than those on Earth. It is speculated that because Mars' gravity is weaker, the volcanoes are correspondingly taller. These volcanoes may have been erupting for 2 billion years, or the history of these volcanic eruptions accounts for half of Mars' lifetime.

Tharsis Volcanic Area

Credit: NASA/JPL

This Viking 1 photo taken in 1980 shows us Tharsis of the eastern region. From top to bottom on the left, you can see three shield volcanoes about 25 kilometers high: Mount Escorrels, Mount Pavonis, and Mount Arcia. On the upper right side is Mount Sarsis.

Valles Marineris

Credit: NASA

Mars not only has the largest volcano in the solar system, but also the largest canyon. Valles Marineris is about 3,000 kilometers long, roughly four times the length of the Grand Canyon (about 800 kilometers).

Researchers are not sure how Valles Marineris formed, but there are several theories about its formation. Many scientists believe that when the Tharsis region was formed, it also indirectly promoted the expansion of Valles Marineris. Magma flowing through volcanic areas pushes the crust up, causing crustal fractures in other areas. Over time, these fractured crust formed Valles Marineris.

North and South Pole

Credit:NASA/JPL/USGS

There are subtle differences in the composition of the frozen regions at the poles of Mars. In 2008, the Phoenix lander and orbiter observed the north and south poles of Mars respectively. In winter, areas near the North and South Poles are so cold that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere condenses into ice and falls to the surface.

In summer, the opposite is true, with carbon dioxide sublimating back into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide disappears completely in the Northern Hemisphere, leaving only a water ice cap. But some carbon dioxide dry ice remains in the southern hemisphere's atmosphere. All of this activity has a significant impact on the Martian climate, producing winds and other related phenomena.

Gale Crater and Mount Sharp (Aeolian Mountains)

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Gale Crater became famous in one fell swoop. Since Curiosity landed here in 2012, there is a lot of evidence that water existed there. Curiosity stumbled along the riverbed for weeks, finding plenty of evidence of water along the crater floor. It is now climbing a nearby volcano called Mount Sharp (Mount Aeolian) while also observing the geographical characteristics of each formation.

One of Curiosity's most exciting discoveries is the repeated discovery of complex organic molecules in this area.

A result published in 2018 showed that the organic matter was found in a 3.5 billion-year-old stone. In addition, researchers also announced that the concentration of methane in the Martian atmosphere changes with the seasons, based on observations from the rover. Methane is a substance that can be produced by microorganisms, or it may just be a geological phenomenon, so it is not yet certain whether methane is a sign of life.

As one of the strangest landforms on Mars, the Medusa Trench Layer is about one-fifth the size of the United States. Some people even believe that there is some evidence of UFO crashes hidden here. A more reliable explanation is that it is a product of volcanic sedimentation. Over time, wind erosion carved the rocks into some beautiful shapes. But researchers need more studies to understand the relationship between these volcanoes and the formation of Medusa's trough layers. A 2018 study suggested that hundreds of large-scale volcanic eruptions over the past 500 million years may be responsible for the formation of Medusa's trough layers. Its formation may have been due to hundreds of massive volcanic eruptions that lasted 500 million years. Volcanic eruptions released large amounts of greenhouse gases, causing the climate of Mars to warm.

Mars has a peculiar phenomenon, which is seasonal slope lines. This phenomenon often occurs on the steep sides of craters during warm seasons. Although these photos of Hale Crater (and other sites as well) show several spots where signs of hydration have been found, it's still hard to figure out what this seasonal slope line is. In 2015, NASA initially announced that hydrated salt must be a sign of surface runoff water, but later research showed that seasonal slope lines may be formed by atmospheric water vapor or dry sand. In fact, we may need to get closer to these seasonal slope lines to understand their natural nature. The difficulty is that if the seasonal slope lines are really related to alien microorganisms, in order to avoid biochemical contamination, we cannot get too close to these lines. NASA has thought of survey methods that comply with planetary protection protocols. I believe that future human explorers will use telescopes to appreciate it from a distance.

Noctis Trench Network and “Ghost Dunes” in the Hellenic Basin NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

< p> As water evaporates and the atmosphere thins, Martian terrain is now dominated by wind. But we can still find a lot of evidence of water, such as the Noctis Channel Network and the "ghost dune" area in the Hellenic Basin. Researchers say the dunes in these areas used to be ten meters high. Later, magma or water flooded these dunes, leaving only the bottom of the dunes while the upper parts were eroded away.

Ancient sand dunes that show how winds flowed on Mars in the past may give climatologists some clues about the Red Planet's ancient environment. Even more exciting is the possibility that there may be microorganisms hiding in the protected areas of these dunes, sheltered from radiation and wind.

Mars welcomes you at the end of the story, remember to check in!

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