Title: Tectonic
implications of Mars crustal magnetism
Document Type: Article
Language: English
Abstract: Mars
currently has no global magnetic field of internal origin but must have
had one in the past, when the crust acquired intense magnetization,
presumably by cooling in the presence of an Earth-like magnetic field
(thermoremanent magnetization). A new map of the magnetic field of
Mars, compiled by using measurements acquired at an approximate to
400-km mapping altitude by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, is
presented here. The increased spatial resolution and sensitivity of
this map provide new insight into the origin and evolution of the Mars
crust. Variations in the crustal magnetic field appear in association
with major faults, some previously identified in imagery and topography
(Cerberus Rupes and Valles Marineris). Two parallel great faults are
identified in Terra Meridiani by offset magnetic field contours. They
appear similar to transform faults that occur in oceanic crust on
Earth, and support the notion that the Mars crust formed during an
early era of plate tectonics.
Author Keywords: magnetic;
planetary; plate tectonics
KeyWords Plus: PLATE-TECTONICS;
FIELD; ANOMALIES; EVOLUTION; PLUMES; MANTLE; FAULTS; OCEAN; FLOOR
Addresses: Connerney
JEP (reprint author), NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD
20771 USA
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
Univ Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
Univ Calif Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
Catholic Univ Amer, Washington, DC 20064 USA
Ctr Etud Spatiale Rayonnements, Toulouse, F-31028 France
Publisher: NATL
ACAD SCIENCES, 2101 CONSTITUTION AVE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20418 USA
Subject Category: MULTIDISCIPLINARY
SCIENCES
IDS Number: 977NZ
ISSN: 0027-8424
