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A NEW MODEL OF MARS AS A FORMER CAPTURED SATELLITE:
BI-MODAL DISTRIBUTION OF KEY FEATURES
ABSTRACT Conventional models of Mars, based on measurements by initial Mariner unmanned spacecraft, found an arid, apparently ancient environment without current liquid water. This prompted subsequent, highly negative assessments regarding Mars’ history, and the difficulty for the origin and/or evolution of higher forms of life. Later, the unmanned Viking missions (as well as the 1997 Pathfinder Lander) seemed to confirm this barren model. Complex, sometimes contradictory geologic theories to explain this desolate Mars environment have been proposed, based on a wide variety of observed surface phenomena and features. A new model that reconciles major puzzling contradictions among past models is now put forth, using new observations from MGS high-resolution images of Mars and a reevaluation of certain Viking era experiments. Small-scale surface features are identified which, it is proposed, are the direct product of wide spread ancient and recent bursts of subsurface liquid water. These water “stains” are shown to cluster (beyond statistical chance) in an unmistakable tidally-determined, bi-modal distribution on the planet: centered near the Tharsis and antipodal Arabia “bulges.” A revaluation of Mars ancient history is therefore proposed, suggesting that Mars (well after solar system formation) was captured into synchronous orbital lock with a larger planetary companion (“Planet V”), accounting for the clustering of present day water bursts around the former beds of two bi-modally distributed “Mars ancient oceans” as a direct result. The current Tharsis and Arabia mantle uplifts are shown to be an inevitable additional fossil signature of such former tidal stresses, induced by a close gravitational relationship with Planet V. Other heretofore inexplicable Martian surface features are shown to be consistent with such a simple "tidal model": Valles Marineris (as an eroded ancient tidal bore, formed immediately post-capture); the presence of the extremely flat terrain covering the northern hemisphere (via deposited sediments from the once tidally supported oceans, when released); and the current trench or "moat" around the Tharsis bulge (from relaxation of Tharsis back into the mantle, after tidal lock was broken). The long-mysterious “Line of Dichotomy” is explained as a remnant of a “blast wave” of debris from this sudden severing of the former orbital lock relationship with Planet V, due to either a catastrophic collision or explosion. Chemical signatures of this extraordinary destruction event on Mars are shown to be consistent with the model; including the distribution of olivine preferentially below the line of dichotomy; the presence of primitive mantle and core materials such as iron and sulfur in unusual abundance on Mars surface; and the concentration of proposed “water stains” in areas bereft of olivine. Mars unusual magnetic field “striping” is now shown to be another unique southern hemisphere signature of this destruction event, caused by standing P and S waves reverberating through the planet’s crust as a result of the massive simultaneous impacts from Planet V debris. Recently published research showing unprecedented outflow channels from the Tharsis and Arabia bulges are shown to be consistent with the sudden relaxation of the two tidal oceans, as is the sculpting of huge amounts of material by fluvial processes north of the Arabia bulge. Two possible mechanisms for the destruction of Planet V and the breaking of this tidal lock are outlined. Finally, a new timeline for Mars geologic evolution is proposed that is consistent with these observations, placing these events between capture ~500 MYA and the destruction of Planet V at 65 MYA.
Introduction
Man’s fascination with Mars has led to many fanciful and romantic
notions about the planet’s genesis.
Early popular (and even some scientific) speculations focused on a
planet populated by exotic creatures if not warring advanced civilizations;
these were based in large part on Lowell’s turn-of-the-Century model of a harsh
and frigid Mars, one that was still habitable, though dying. It was not until the 1964 Mariner 4 mission
that the general public and the scientific community got their first close-up
view of the real Mars -- as Mariner 4 flew by at a distance of 6,118
miles. The 21 images telemetered back
to JPL surprisingly revealed a cratered terrain more akin to the lifeless lunar
surface than anything on Earth. With
these first insitu spacecraft Mars data, hopes for finding anything approaching
another “Earth” elsewhere in this solar system were permanently dashed. Subsequent missions confirmed that the
Martian atmosphere was much too thin and the temperatures too low to allow for
the presence of surface liquid water, eliminating almost any remaining hope of
finding current life. Eleven years later,
biology experiments conducted in 1976 by the Viking Landers (including one
termed the Labeled Release Experiment, or LRE), produced positive results for
life bearing organisms in the samples.[1] However, these findings were directly contradicted
by other instruments’ results, which indicated that the biology data were
“false positives,” generated by a non-biological chemical reaction with the
Martian soil.[2] Among the principal reasons cited for consensus
against the LRE was the absence of available liquid water on the Martian
surface – a key prerequisite for
life. This general dismissal of the LRE
results was immediately challenged by the LRE’s Principal Investigator, Gilbert
Levin. Levin[3]
showed that liquid water could flow on the present day Martian surface, if the
available water was restricted to the lower 1-3 km of atmosphere, rather than
being evenly distributed throughout its depth.
Meteorological data from Mars Pathfinder later confirmed the Levin model
for atmospheric water distribution.[4] One remarkable
development in this regard has been the rediscovery of 25-year-old “lost” NASA
data from Levin’s own experiment.
Joseph Miller, a neurobiologist at the University of Southern California,
recently presented evidence that the radioactive C02 release that was the heart
of Levin’s experiment exhibited a clear 24.66-hour Martian diurnal cycle
– precisely the circadian rhythm to be expected of living Martian microbes
in the soil.[5] If confirmed, this would strongly indicate
current microbial organisms on Mars – despite a quarter-century of disclaimers
and the apparent dearth of liquid water. In striking contrast
to the current apparent aridity of Mars, analysis of images from Mariner 9 and
Viking’s later Orbiters did reveal evidence of large and catastrophic ancient
water flows on Mars. They also revealed
evidence of a violent geological past -- with huge volcanoes, extensive
cratering in the southern hemisphere, and a massive canyon system (Valles
Marineris) stretching almost one-quarter of the way around the planet. Despite evidence of
wide-spread water flows on Mars, the general scientific consensus now is that
any liquid water on the planet has been confined to the very distant past
(circa 3 plus billion years -- GYA), when a much denser atmosphere allowed it
to flow freely across the surface. The
presence of large numbers of eroded craters in the south is cited as proof that
the planet has been geologically dead for at least 3 billion years -- the time since the last
“heavy bombardment” of the inner solar system.[6]
Other surface
features present more difficult problems for geologists. There are vast differences
in crater densities between the northern and southern planetary hemispheres. In the North, medium-sized craters are
rarely seen, with significant distances between them. This is in distinct contrast with the South, where craters are so
numerous that they overlap each other, making it difficult to distinguish
between individual impacts. This stark
difference is mysteriously emphasized by a “Line of Dichotomy”: a separation
line running around the circumference of the planet at about a 35-degree angle
to the Equator. The southern, heavily
cratered side of the line, is also (mysteriously) nearly 30 kilometers (on
average) higher than the northern sparsely cratered lowlands.
Somewhat limited by
existing theories of solar system formation, planetary geologists have tried to
explain these major discrepancies on Mars in terms of familiar models. Since the northern hemisphere accounts for
50% of the land mass but only 7% of the craters, the latest idea is that Mars
must have lost its “primordial crust” in the northern hemisphere to an
ancient period of “vigorous convection and high heat flow”[7]
early in
Martian history, at a time well after
the last heavy bombardment period.
However, the lack of smaller craters on the northern plains (based on
relative dating of similar cratering statistics from the Moon) paradoxically
implies a relatively recent date for this proposed “event.” An Alternative Model of Solar System Evolution
In 1978, Naval Observatory astronomer and celestial mechanics expert,
Thomas
Van Flandern, put forth the idea (based on an original model by Olbers) that a
relatively recent “exploded planet” in the asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter was responsible for the origins of most comets and asteroids in the
solar system.[8] This notion, called the Exploded Planet
Hypothesis (EPH)[9], has found
little support in the planetary science community, but its lines of evidence
since its initial publication over twenty years ago have become increasingly
compelling. Part and parcel to this
hypothesis is the idea that half Mars visible surface was devastated by this
proposed explosion event, neatly accounting for the cratering dichotomy between
the northern and southern hemispheres, and the loss of a once dense and
possibly life sustaining atmosphere. More recently,
writer Graham Hancock has popularized an alternative catastrophic theory, which
supports the conventional view that the north was stripped of several layers of
primordial crust.[10] Hancock argues that a large comet or planetoid
somehow wandered into the Roche limit zone of Mars and was drawn into the
planet in the Hellas basin, effectively tearing away the older surface of the
northern hemisphere via secondary bombardment, and depositing the remnants of
its shattered bulk into the southern highlands. Hancock’s idea is based on Donald W. Patten and Samuel L. Windsor’s
research,[11] who surmise
that this object was in fact a “rogue planet” they call “Astra,” described in
their book “The Scars of Mars.” There
are however numerous problems with the “Astra” concept – for instance, it
cannot account for the presence of the asteroid belt, while the EPH does so
intrinsically. The authors of this
paper believe that the EPH is the much stronger hypothesis (if appropriately
modified), and that it has already demonstrated a capacity to survive serious
falsification efforts, qualities not shared by “Astra.” Extension of the EPH
Recently, Van Flandern has extended the EPH to
include the notion that several “planets” (Pluto, Mercury, and Mars) are
actually former moons of current or destroyed planets. Evidence to support this hypothesis is extensive,
but for our purposes we will focus exclusively on the evidence for Mars. Of these lines of evidence, we will address
here only a few as relevant to our proposal.
A more complete analysis will be left to a follow–on paper. Some of the evidence, as compiled by Van
Flandern:
Previous to this, Dorman
& Woolfson (1977), writing in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society of London, resented a model called “the Capture Theory of Planetary
Formation.” They proposed that Mars was once an original (not captured) moon of
one of two colliding “protoplanets” in the early accretion solar system phase.[12] They even provided one specific piece of evidence
to support their idea that Mars began as such a satellite: Mars density is much
closer to that of some of the Galilean satellites than it is to Venus, the
least dense inner planet. This implies
a genesis more in common with Io, Europa and Earth’s Moon than with the terrestrial
planets. To quote Woolfson (1984):
Van Flandern’s EPH
Model proposes that there were formerly two massive planetary bodies in the
current orbits of Mars and the Asteroid Belt, respectively. Both exploded. The first (Planet K) detonated in the orbit of the current Belt
“several hundred million years ago.”
The second (Planet V) exploded near the present day orbit of Mars, some
65 million years ago (MYA). In Van
Flandern’s theory, additional impact damage was done to Mars when a much
smaller second former moon of Planet V exploded in Mars vicinity 3.2
MYA. In our modification of the EPH, we
will show that it is not necessary to invoke a literal planetary “explosion” to
produce all the subsequent effects Van Flandern has proposed, including the
formation of asteroids and comets, and the escape of most of the remaining mass
from solar influence. In doing so, we
will draw upon new data not available when Van Flandern originally formulated
his EPH ideas, specifically, observations of certain Extra Solar planets that
follow orbits similar to what we are proposing led to Mars initial capture as a
satellite, and then the destruction of its “foster parent,” Planet V. The relevance of water
If Mars, prior to its capture (in
our model) formerly had a denser atmosphere that provided for liquid water on
the surface, it is likely that this water – dependent on the amount -- was distributed
in lakes or oceans, much as it is here on Earth. If this was the case, there should still be pockets of this water
trapped beneath those former lake or ocean beds, relatively close to the
surface, dependent on how long ago the water actually flowed. If extensive “fields” of this frozen or
(sometimes) liquid water were discovered near the surface, this would strongly
imply such former “lakes” or “oceans” were the source. Besides Levin’s
atmospheric model, the best evidence for current liquid water near the surface
of Mars (until recently) was provided by Dr. Leonard Martin of the Lowell Observatory. Martin, in 1980, compared two images of Mars
taken from the Viking Orbiters that clearly showed an erupting water spout.[13] This implied active geothermal heating of a
source of water not too far below the current Martian surface. In June 2000,
Michael Malin and Ken Edgett of MSSS published a paper in Science[14],
proposing that grooved features on cliffs and gullies on Mars were fossil evidence
of prior erosive runoff from liquid water.
They placed the events as recently as 1 MYA, but conceded the bursts
could also include present day occurrences.
In 1998, one
of a growing number of “independent researchers,” Byran Butcher, noticed and
published on the Internet a curious “dark area.” He casually suggested it might be “a coffee stain, water, or a
shadow.”[15] In July 2000, the authors published a much
more specific model, based on an MOC image of an unusually dark, highly
elongated “stain” emanating from an exterior point source on a crater wall,
proposing that it was a current water flow consistent with the model Malin and
Edgett had put forth a few days earlier.[16]
They quickly found numerous additional examples.
Subsequent to this,
Palermo, England and Moore also found that surface “stains” were inconsistent
with aeolian features, mass wasting or other non-fluvial processes.[17] At the suggestion of one of the authors
(Hoagland), Palermo et-al then proceeded to systematically map the locations of
these “seep” images relative to Mars surface coordinates, to see if there was a
global pattern to their distribution.
As a control, they also mapped randomly-selected “non-stain” images
until a representative and statistically valid sampling had been completed. Immediately, two striking global patterns emerged: both pointing to present day liquid water as a source of the “stains” or “seepages.” In the first pattern, the map showed that seepage images seem to appear preferentially near equatorial latitudes, mostly between 30 degrees North and South; none were found above 40 degrees North and South. This implies that the phenomenon is restricted to warmer areas of Mars, which would be expected if these were truly water flows. An equatorial pattern is also inconsistent with the “dust avalanche” model put forth by Malin and NASA as an explanation for these features.[18]
Figure 5 – Map showing flow image distribution.
The second, more
important pattern discovered was that the water flows seemed to cluster preferentially
around two pronounced geological features on the Martian surface: the Tharsis
and Arabia mantle uplifts (“bulges” -- Figure 5). The theoretical factors behind this second (and very pronounced)
bi-modal “stain” distribution pattern are the primary subjects of this paper. Mars as a Tidal Locked Moon of a Companion Body
The authors are proposing in this
paper that Mars, at some point earlier in solar system history, was captured by
one of two larger planetary bodies orbiting near the present day orbit of
Mars. This scenario is an extension of
the Capture Theory model of solar system formation put forth by Dorman & Woolfson (1977), as well as Van
Flandern’s Exploded Planet Hypothesis (1978).
It is also based on current observations of significantly elliptical
orbits for many newly-discovered Extra Solar planets around nearby stars, as reported
by Butler, et-al.[19] One relevant example is the Jupiter-massed
planet orbiting the nearby K-type star, Epsilon Eridani. With an orbital period of 6.9 years, an
orbital eccentricity of 0.6, and an average distance from its star of 3.4 astronomical
units (AU), this planet’s orbit would take it as far out as Jupiter and as
close as Mars if it orbited in our own solar system.[20]
It is our proposal
that two previous planets in the vast “gap” between the current orbits of
Jupiter and Mars, with orbital eccentricities far less than the Epsilon Eridani
planet, after several billion years were gradually perturbed into a series of
close encounters. This eventually
resulted in the low-probability but possible “three-body capture” of a third
object, the formerly freely orbiting Mars, and millions of years later, the
actual collision of the two larger planets.
As noted, such theoretical former solar system members have been referred
to as “Planet K” and “Planet V” in Van Flandern’s original EPH model, the
latter estimated to possess approximately 4-5 Earth masses. We propose that,
like theoretical models invoked now to explain some Extra Solar System
observations of formerly interacting planets,[21]
a rare multi-planet encounter occurred late in solar system history between two
planets formerly occupying the current gap between Jupiter and Mars: two
massive terrestrial planets termed “K” and “V.” As a result, Mars was robbed of a critical portion of its solar
angular momentum, allowing capture in an extreme elliptical orbit as a new satellite
of Planet V. An alternative
scenario involves only one former solar system member – Planet V. Given the parameters
of existing solar system members -- distance, density, and mass, especially
Mars’ low density compared to the other terrestrial planets (Figure 2) -- it
seems reasonable to assume that if two additional Earth-massed planets had
formed between Jupiter and Mars, they would have incorporated significantly
more water than did Earth. And, given
the increased likelihood of multiple glancing collisions in the early planetesimal
phase for this region of the solar system,[22]
they probably possessed multiple natural satellites as well. An encounter of Mars with such a system, billions
of years after its formation (as we are proposing), would thus have a reasonable
probability of encountering a satellite as well. This type of encounter has a much higher probability of happening
than the previous scenario presented (the three-body interaction of Planet K,
Planet V, and Mars). But, this second
type of encounter could also result in Mars being captured by Planet V – via
the ejection of one of Planet V’s own moons. Calculations examining similar scenarios have been performed in
connection with the anomalous Neptune system – which consists now of a major
planet-sized satellite (Triton) in retrograde orbit, and a smaller moon (Nereid)
in a highly elliptical one. This has
been viewed for years as prima-facie evidence for a highly unusual Neptune
encounter earlier in solar system history with an outside object in
heliocentric orbit, which reversed Triton’s orbit and ejected a previous moon
from the system entirely. That “escaped
satellite” is now known as “Pluto.”[23]
Regardless of the precise methodology of capture, the subsequent, strong tidal relationship between Mars and the more massive Planet V (Figure 6) would have resulted in a further, rapid loss of Mars spin angular momentum, from a “free” rotation period in solar orbit on the order of ~12 hours down to the presently observed ~24. This estimate is based on models of Earth’s primordial rotation slowed by early lunar tides ( Figure 7). [24] In the model, inevitable tidal evolution not only ultimately circularized Mars orbit around Planet V, it resulted in Mars finally rotating/revolving around Planet V synchronously, in approximately 24 hours -- with one side always facing Planet V, as Earth’s Moon does today.
It is the
authors’ central proposal in this paper that it was this verifiable “Mars tidal
lock relationship” with Planet V that accounts for a host of previously inexplicable
and even contradictory Martian surface features, that otherwise will remain
perpetually mysterious. This begins with the otherwise baffling present-day Tharsis and Arabia antipodal uplifts on the planet, which are located precisely 180 degrees opposite (Figures 8 and 9). In this tidal model, the Tharsis “bulge” -- a huge upwelling in the mantle and crust of Mars, unique in the solar system – is explained as a combination of the extended gravitational tidal influence of the larger Planet V acting for a significant period of time on that hemisphere, in concert with pre-existing internal mantle upwellings. As would be expected from such a tidal situation, a smaller but still significant “anti-bulge” would inevitably be raised at the antipodal location to Tharsis -- which accounts for the Arabia uplift precisely 180 degrees around the planet.
All formerly fluid or partially fluid bodies in the solar system, including the inner moons of Jupiter and Saturn, show signs of such tidal evolution. Io, in particular, has significant bi-modal tidal bulges, similar to the model we are proposing now for Mars.[25] We additionally postulate that other heretofore inexplicable geologic features, such as Valles Marineris and the Elysium Mons, were also an extended result of this former tidal mechanism. The authors also propose that, when this tidal lock relationship was severed -- by the events directly leading to the destruction of Planet V -- Mars rotational polar axis obliquity, relative to the plane of its satellite orbit, dramatically shifted. This sudden obliquity shift, as part of this rapidly timed sequence of events, is responsible in the model for the apparent discrepancy of the “Line of Dichotomy” blast wave being inclined about 55 degrees to that rotational axis -- instead of being focused on the Tharsis region itself (see details, below).
Example of typical anti-podal tidal bulge on Earth Original capture model and consequences
After capture, as this close
orbital relationship between Mars and Planet V evolved and the orbit circularized
over hundreds of thousands or even millions of years, any surface water of
oceanic volume would have “sloshed” back and forth across the surface of Mars
twice every Martian “day,” just as lunar tides do here on Earth. We assert, based on this intrinsic tidal
process, that Mars at the time of capture had to have been a “warm, wet world”
with both a denser atmosphere and a copious supply of flowing liquid water,
otherwise it would not evidence the major surface signatures of tidal movement
we will demonstrate. But first: as an
intrinsic aspect of this model, we begin by proposing that the puzzling “mantle
uplift” of Tharsis began long before this dynamic capture sequence
culminated. Once Mars was captured and
oriented with the pre-capture “heavy side” (Tharsis) pointed “down” (toward
Planet V), the uplift process was then further and extensively augmented by the
“stretching” gravitational forces of Planet V close by. Further, we suggest that this process
resulted in the relatively brittle crust of Mars weakening at the eastern base
of the now stretched Tharsis rise, resulting in a series of radial fissures
opening up – one of which was then radically enlarged to become the Valles
Marineris canyon system.
Figure 10 – A typical terrestrial tidal bore wave making its way up a river basin.
In the model,
this original tension crack was inevitably expanded by the erosive effects of a
massive volume of directed tidal waters – termed a “tidal bore”[26]
(Figure 10) -- rushing back and forth (at several hundred kilometers per hour!)
the entire ~ 1600 kilometer plus length of the original fissure, twice each
Martian day, in direct response to the original spin rate of Mars and the
massive gravitational tides caused by Planet V. Before Mars’ tidal lock with the larger planet was achieved, this
enormous surge would have flowed, always westward, around the circumference of
Mars in the direction opposite Mars spin, until it piled up against the
immobile eastern side of the pre-capture Tharsis bulge. At that point, when “high tide” passed, the
released waters would have rushed (under Mars gravity) back down the canyon
system toward the east, scouring the floor once more, until the next “high
tide.” This almost unimaginable force
of rushing water, through an expanding canyon system of parallel fissures
eventually opened up by the fluvial erosion, would have recurred twice
each Martian “day,” possibly for several million years -- until Mars’ rotation
was finally stationary relative to Planet V.
It is our proposal
that this “scrubbing action” eventually resulted in a radical deepening of the
original narrow cleft to form the present day ~7-km-deep, ~4000-km-long canyon
system known as “Valles Marineris” – a system (Figure 11) now stretching one
quarter of the way around the planet Mars. This assumes that
Mars, like the other planets of the solar system, prior to its capture had a prograde
spin. Thus, the tides induced by Planet
V forced the rising and falling waters to always assault the eastern
side of Tharsis – which is precisely where Valles Marineris formed. The newly-found
bi-modal clustering of “stains” (current water flows) exclusively in the Tharsis
and Arabia regions of the planet by Palermo (2001), 180 degrees apart, is an
additional major indicator that this model is correct. This accounts not only for tidal bi-modal
crustal deformation of the planet, as predicted by the satellite model, but
also implies that major quantities of unevenly distributed fluid (water) once
also existed on the surface. Presumably,
this water primarily resided after “tidal lock” in two opposing “tidal ocean
bulges” – with possible dry land between -- because of the inevitable bi-lobed
tidal forces experienced by Mars as an ultimately synchronously rotating
satellite of Planet V. Long Term Stasis
The evidence argues that, once Mars lost its
remaining spin momentum and established this stable synchronous orbital relationship, this was not broken or
adjusted significantly until the catastrophic destruction of Planet V. The constant tidal tugging on the two opposing
hemispheres of Mars from this synchronous orientation now resulted in a continual
uplift of the Tharsis region, and to a lesser extent Arabia, antipodal to the
Tharsis rise. The formerly racing tides
would also then have stabilized, and the tidal erosion of Valles Marineris
would have totally subsided. At this
point, the only additional fluvial erosion processes likely on the planet would
have been wind-induced wave action and severe storms. Evidence of the former should still present itself on some key
surface features not altered by the subsequent Planet V destruction.
One potential
candidate for such erosive signatures is Olympus Mons itself. Olympus Mons rises some 24 kilometers high
and measures 550 km in diameter, making it the largest shield volcano in the solar
system. According to our model, a
significant portion of this volcano most likely stood above the water-line of
this ancient “Tharsis Ocean,” and should still display signs of aeolian wave action.
Remarkably,
Olympus Mons is almost completely encircled by a very steep, nearly vertical escarpment. This scarp ranges from between 2-10 km high,[27]
indicating that it was carved out over time as the volcano was pulled/pushed upward
by the continuing tidal force of Planet V aiding internal planetary
uplift. The vertical walls of the scarp
suggest that it was created by this proposed aeolian wave action, as it bears a
strong resemblance to similarly vertical, wind/wave action features on
Earth. Ironically, this idea was first
proposed in a somewhat modified form in 1973, by University of Pennsylvania
geologist, the late Henry Faul. Titled
romantically “The Cliff of Nix Olympica” (the pre-Viking name for Olympus
Mons), the paper was never accepted for publication “because of the paucity of
data.”[28] The Viking and MGS missions have now
remedied that situation, and we hope that Henry Faul’s remarkable idea is
finally given its appropriate hearing. The “White
Cliffs of Dover” (Figure 14) are a prime terrestrial example of such features. These lime-rock vertical cliffs are created
by the action of the waters of the English Channel. High winds in the Channel create a constant bashing action on the
shore rocks, eventually beating the rocks to a vertical face. Similar features are seen across the Channel
on the coast of France.
Further evidence that the Olympus Mons scarp feature is due to the wind-driven action of an ocean can be found in the fact that it envelops the entire mountain (Figure 15); if a hypothetical ocean surrounded such a rising tectonic feature, the wind/ocean patterns would be expected to erode a mostly uniform scarp such as the one we see.
It is also
likely the scarp was formed after Mars assumed synchronous tidal lock around
Planet V, since it does not appear to be a result of directional tidal forces. If the scarp was tidal, it is likely the
cliffs on its circumference would be significantly more pronounced on the eastern
side. Intriguingly, Arthur Clarke
several years ago created a computer-generated image (Figure 16) depicting
precisely such an “Olympus Ocean.” Although
projected to a time when humans have terraformed the planet Mars, his depiction
– especially the waters swirling around the 22,000 foot-high cliff around the
mountain – are eerily accurate to our own model of a former “tidal Mars.”[29]
Stain Distribution
A major, long-term consequence of this eventual Mars synchronous rotation around Planet V is the present bi-modal distribution of su |
