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Oehler DZ, Etiope G. Methane Seepage on Mars: Where to Look and Why. ASTROBIOLOGY 2017; 17:1233-1264. [PMID: 28771029 PMCID: PMC5730060 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2017] [Accepted: 05/14/2017] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Methane on Mars is a topic of special interest because of its potential association with microbial life. The variable detections of methane by the Curiosity rover, orbiters, and terrestrial telescopes, coupled with methane's short lifetime in the martian atmosphere, may imply an active gas source in the planet's subsurface, with migration and surface emission processes similar to those known on Earth as "gas seepage." Here, we review the variety of subsurface processes that could result in methane seepage on Mars. Such methane could originate from abiotic chemical reactions, thermogenic alteration of abiotic or biotic organic matter, and ancient or extant microbial metabolism. These processes can occur over a wide range of temperatures, in both sedimentary and igneous rocks, and together they enhance the possibility that significant amounts of methane could have formed on early Mars. Methane seepage to the surface would occur preferentially along faults and fractures, through focused macro-seeps and/or diffuse microseepage exhalations. Our work highlights the types of features on Mars that could be associated with methane release, including mud-volcano-like mounds in Acidalia or Utopia; proposed ancient springs in Gusev Crater, Arabia Terra, and Valles Marineris; and rims of large impact craters. These could have been locations of past macro-seeps and may still emit methane today. Microseepage could occur through faults along the dichotomy or fractures such as those at Nili Fossae, Cerberus Fossae, the Argyre impact, and those produced in serpentinized rocks. Martian microseepage would be extremely difficult to detect remotely yet could constitute a significant gas source. We emphasize that the most definitive detection of methane seepage from different release candidates would be best provided by measurements performed in the ground or at the ground-atmosphere interface by landers or rovers and that the technology for such detection is currently available. Key Words: Mars-Methane-Seepage-Clathrate-Fischer-Tropsch-Serpentinization. Astrobiology 17, 1233-1264.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Giuseppe Etiope
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma 2, Roma, Italy, and Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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Goossens S, Sabaka TJ, Genova A, Mazarico E, Nicholas JB, Neumann GA. Evidence for a Low Bulk Crustal Density for Mars from Gravity and Topography. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 2017; 44:7686-7694. [PMID: 28966411 PMCID: PMC5619241 DOI: 10.1002/2017gl074172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Knowledge of the average density of the crust of a planet is important in determining its interior structure. The combination of high-resolution gravity and topography data has yielded a low density for the Moon's crust, yet for other terrestrial planets the resolution of the gravity field models has hampered reasonable estimates. By using well-chosen constraints derived from topography during gravity field model determination using satellite tracking data, we show that we can robustly and independently determine the average bulk crustal density directly from the tracking data, using the admittance between topography and imperfect gravity. We find a low average bulk crustal density for Mars, 2582 ± 209 kg m-3. This bulk crustal density is lower than that assumed until now. Densities for volcanic complexes are higher, consistent with earlier estimates, implying large lateral variations in crustal density. In addition, we find indications that the crustal density increases with depth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sander Goossens
- CRESST, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - Terence J. Sabaka
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - Antonio Genova
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 54-918, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Erwan Mazarico
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - Joseph B. Nicholas
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Emergent Space Technologies, 6411 Ivy Lane Suite 303, Greenbelt, MD 20770, USA
| | - Gregory A. Neumann
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
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Abstract
Until the acquisition of in-situ measurements, the study of the present-day heat flow of Mars must rely on indirect methods, mainly based on the relation between the thermal state of the lithosphere and its mechanical strength, or on theoretical models of internal evolution. Here, we present a first-order global model for the present-day surface heat flow for Mars, based on the radiogenic heat production of the crust and mantle, on scaling of heat flow variations arising from crustal thickness and topography variations, and on the heat flow derived from the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere beneath the North Polar Region. Our preferred model finds heat flows varying between 14 and 25 mW m-2, with an average value of 19 mW m-2. Similar results (although about ten percent higher) are obtained if we use heat flow based on the lithospheric strength of the South Polar Region. Moreover, expressing our results in terms of the Urey ratio (the ratio between total internal heat production and total heat loss through the surface), we estimate values close to 0.7-0.75, which indicates a moderate contribution of secular cooling to the heat flow of Mars (consistent with the low heat flow values deduced from lithosphere strength), unless heat-producing elements abundances for Mars are subchondritic.
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Abstract
Several lines of evidence suggest that Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a global subsurface ocean beneath an outer ice shell 50 to 200 kilometres thick. If convection is occurring, the rigid portion of the shell is expected to be thin; similarly, a weak, isostatically compensated shell has been proposed to explain the observed topography. Here we report a strong inverse correlation between gravity and topography at long wavelengths that are not dominated by tides and rotation. We argue that negative gravity anomalies (mass deficits) produced by crustal thickening at the base of the ice shell overwhelm positive gravity anomalies (mass excesses) produced by the small surface topography, giving rise to this inverse correlation. We show that this situation requires a substantially rigid ice shell with an elastic thickness exceeding 40 kilometres, and hundreds of metres of surface erosion and deposition, consistent with recent estimates from local features. Our results are therefore not compatible with a geologically active, low-rigidity ice shell. After extrapolating to wavelengths that are controlled by tides and rotation, we suggest that Titan's moment of inertia may be even higher (that is, Titan may be even less centrally condensed) than is currently thought.
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Beuthe M, Le Maistre S, Rosenblatt P, Pätzold M, Dehant V. Density and lithospheric thickness of the Tharsis Province from MEX MaRS and MRO gravity data. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1029/2011je003976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Jones EG, Lineweaver CH, Clarke JD. An extensive phase space for the potential martian biosphere. ASTROBIOLOGY 2011; 11:1017-1033. [PMID: 22149914 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2011.0660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
We present a comprehensive model of martian pressure-temperature (P-T) phase space and compare it with that of Earth. Martian P-T conditions compatible with liquid water extend to a depth of ∼310 km. We use our phase space model of Mars and of terrestrial life to estimate the depths and extent of the water on Mars that is habitable for terrestrial life. We find an extensive overlap between inhabited terrestrial phase space and martian phase space. The lower martian surface temperatures and shallower martian geotherm suggest that, if there is a hot deep biosphere on Mars, it could extend 7 times deeper than the ∼5 km depth of the hot deep terrestrial biosphere in the crust inhabited by hyperthermophilic chemolithotrophs. This corresponds to ∼3.2% of the volume of present-day Mars being potentially habitable for terrestrial-like life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eriita G Jones
- Planetary Sciences Institute, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
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Noe Dobrea EZ, Bishop JL, McKeown NK, Fu R, Rossi CM, Michalski JR, Heinlein C, Hanus V, Poulet F, Mustard RJF, Murchie S, McEwen AS, Swayze G, Bibring JP, Malaret E, Hash C. Mineralogy and stratigraphy of phyllosilicate-bearing and dark mantling units in the greater Mawrth Vallis/west Arabia Terra area: Constraints on geological origin. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1029/2009je003351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Bowles JA, Hammer JE, Brachfeld SA. Magnetic and petrologic characterization of synthetic Martian basalts and implications for the surface magnetization of Mars. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1029/2009je003378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Julie A. Bowles
- Department of Geology and Geophysics; University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa; Honolulu Hawaii USA
| | - Julia E. Hammer
- Department of Geology and Geophysics; University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa; Honolulu Hawaii USA
| | - Stefanie A. Brachfeld
- Department of Earth and Environmental Studies; Montclair State University; Upper Montclair New Jersey USA
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Williams JP, Nimmo F, Moore WB, Paige DA. The formation of Tharsis on Mars: What the line-of-sight gravity is telling us. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1029/2007je003050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Jellinek AM, Johnson CL, Schubert G. Constraints on the elastic thickness, heat flow, and melt production at early Tharsis from topography and magnetic field observations. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1029/2007je003005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Andrews-Hanna JC, Zuber MT, Banerdt WB. The Borealis basin and the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy. Nature 2008; 453:1212-5. [DOI: 10.1038/nature07011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 231] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2007] [Accepted: 04/04/2008] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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O'Neill C, Lenardic A, Jellinek AM, Kiefer WS. Melt propagation and volcanism in mantle convection simulations, with applications for Martian volcanic and atmospheric evolution. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Zuber MT, Lemoine FG, Smith DE, Konopliv AS, Smrekar SE, Asmar SW. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Radio Science Gravity Investigation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Kronberg P, Hauber E, Grott M, Werner SC, Schäfer T, Gwinner K, Giese B, Masson P, Neukum G. Acheron Fossae, Mars: Tectonic rifting, volcanism, and implications for lithospheric thickness. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Parmentier EM, Zuber MT. Early evolution of Mars with mantle compositional stratification or hydrothermal crustal cooling. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2005je002626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Knapmeyer M, Oberst J, Hauber E, Wählisch M, Deuchler C, Wagner R. Working models for spatial distribution and level of Mars' seismicity. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Schumacher S, Breuer D. Influence of a variable thermal conductivity on the thermochemical evolution of Mars. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2005je002429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Schumacher
- Institut für Planetologie; Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster; Munster Germany
| | - Doris Breuer
- Institut für Planetenforschung; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR); Berlin Germany
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Searls ML, Banerdt WB, Phillips RJ. Utopia and Hellas basins, Mars: Twins separated at birth. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2005je002666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Leask HJ, Wilson L, Mitchell KL. Formation of Aromatum Chaos, Mars: Morphological development as a result of volcano-ice interactions. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2005je002549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Solomon SC, Aharonson O, Aurnou JM, Banerdt WB, Carr MH, Dombard AJ, Frey HV, Golombek MP, Hauck SA, Head JW, Jakosky BM, Johnson CL, McGovern PJ, Neumann GA, Phillips RJ, Smith DE, Zuber MT. New Perspectives on Ancient Mars. Science 2005; 307:1214-20. [PMID: 15731435 DOI: 10.1126/science.1101812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 225] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Mars was most active during its first billion years. The core, mantle, and crust formed within approximately 50 million years of solar system formation. A magnetic dynamo in a convecting fluid core magnetized the crust, and the global field shielded a more massive early atmosphere against solar wind stripping. The Tharsis province became a focus for volcanism, deformation, and outgassing of water and carbon dioxide in quantities possibly sufficient to induce episodes of climate warming. Surficial and near-surface water contributed to regionally extensive erosion, sediment transport, and chemical alteration. Deep hydrothermal circulation accelerated crustal cooling, preserved variations in crustal thickness, and modified patterns of crustal magnetization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean C Solomon
- Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
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Harrison KP. Groundwater-controlled valley networks and the decline of surface runoff on early Mars. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1029/2005je002455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Belleguic V, Lognonné P, Wieczorek M. Constraints on the Martian lithosphere from gravity and topography data. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1029/2005je002437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Lenardic A, Nimmo F, Moresi L. Growth of the hemispheric dichotomy and the cessation of plate tectonics on Mars. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2003je002172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. Lenardic
- Department of Earth Science; Rice University; Houston Texas USA
| | - F. Nimmo
- Department of Geological Sciences; University College London; UK
| | - L. Moresi
- School of Mathematical Sciences; Monash University; Victoria Australia
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Leverington DW. Differential subsidence and rebound in response to changes in water loading on Mars: Possible effects on the geometry of ancient shorelines. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2003je002141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Smrekar SE. Geologic evolution of the Martian dichotomy in the Ismenius area of Mars and implications for plains magnetization. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2004je002260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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McGovern PJ. Correction to “Localized gravity/topography admittance and correlation spectra on Mars: Implications for regional and global evolution”. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2004je002286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Wieczorek MA. Thickness of the Martian crust: Improved constraints from geoid-to-topography ratios. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2003je002153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 182] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Roberts JH. Plume-induced topography and geoid anomalies and their implications for the Tharsis rise on Mars. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2003je002226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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McSween HY, Grove TL, Wyatt MB. Constraints on the composition and petrogenesis of the Martian crust. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2003. [DOI: 10.1029/2003je002175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Harry Y. McSween
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; University of Tennessee; Knoxville Tennessee USA
| | - Timothy L. Grove
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge Massachusetts USA
| | - Michael B. Wyatt
- Department of Geological Sciences; Arizona State University; Tempe Arizona USA
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Montési LGJ. Clues to the lithospheric structure of Mars from wrinkle ridge sets and localization instability. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2003. [DOI: 10.1029/2002je001974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Ruiz J. Amplitude of heat flow variations on Mars from possible shoreline topography. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2003. [DOI: 10.1029/2003je002084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Nimmo F. Admittance estimates of mean crustal thickness and density at the Martian hemispheric dichotomy. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2002. [DOI: 10.1029/2000je001488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Francis Nimmo
- Department of Geological Sciences; University College London; London UK
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