Tag Archives: true polar wander

Valley network distribution supports true polar wander and an ancient ocean

[Editor’s note: From a paper by Ngai Ham Chan and three co-authors recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.] New Evidence of an Ancient Martian Ocean from the Global Distribution of Valley Networks • Surface deformation due to True … Continue reading

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Perfect beaches ruined by martian volcanoes

The presence of potential shorelines in the northern hemisphere of Mars suggests that Mars once had oceans. The non-constant elevations of these putative shorelines, however, do not support that hypothesis. Recent work [published in Nature] by Robert Citron and colleagues … Continue reading

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Great tilt gave Mars a new face

The surface of the planet Mars tilted by 20 to 25 degrees 3 to 3.5 billion years ago. This was caused by a massive volcanic structure, the Tharsis volcanic dome, which is the largest in the Solar System. Because of … Continue reading

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