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Topography of the northern hemisphere of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter,” Science 279 (1998)
| Citations: | 16 - 1 self |
BibTeX
@MISC{Zuber98topographyof,
author = {Maria T. Zuber and David E. Smith and Roger J. Phillips and Sean C. Solomon and W. Bruce Banerdt and Gregory A. Neumann and Oded Aharonson},
title = {Topography of the northern hemisphere of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter,” Science 279},
year = {1998}
}
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Abstract
Abstract. Eighteen proles of N-S-trending topography from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) are used to analyze the shape of Mars ’ northern hemisphere. MOLA observations show smaller northern hemisphere flattening than previously thought. The hypsometric distribution is narrowly peaked with> 20 % of the surface lying within 200 m of the mean elevation. Low elevation correlates with low surface roughness, but the elevation and roughness may re-flect dierent mechanisms. Bouguer gravity indicates less variability in crustal thickness and/or lateral density struc-ture than previously expected. The 3.1-km oset between centers of mass and gure along the polar axis results in a pole-to-equator slope at all longitudes. The N-S slope dis-tribution also shows a subtle longitude-dependent variation that may represent the antipodal eect of the formation of Tharsis.
Keyphrases
mar orbiter laser altimeter northern hemisphere mean elevation 1-km oset polar axis result dierent mechanism pole-to-equator slope hypsometric distribution low elevation correlate n-s slope dis-tribution mola observation subtle longitude-dependent variation antipodal eect low surface roughness lateral density struc-ture bouguer gravity eighteen prole n-s-trending topography crustal thickness
