The Amenthes quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

(USGS)

Astrogeology Research Program The Astrogeology Science Center is the entity within the United States Geological Survey concerned with the study of planetary geology and planetary cartography. It is housed in the Shoemaker Building in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Center was esta ...

. The Amenthes quadrangle is also referred to as MC-14 (Mars Chart-14). The quadrangle covers the area from 225° to 270° west longitude and from 0° to 30° north latitude on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. Amenthes quadrangle contains parts of

Utopia Planitia Utopia Planitia ( Greek and Latin: "Utopia Land Plain") is a large plain within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars and in the Solar System with an estimated diameter of . It is the Martian region where the '' Viking 2'' lander t ...

Isidis Planitia Isidis Planitia is a plain located within a giant impact basin on Mars, located partly in the Syrtis Major quadrangle and partly in the Amenthes quadrangle. At approximately in diameter, it is the third-largest confirmed impact structure on t ...

Terra Cimmeria Terra Cimmeria is a large Martian region, centered at and covering at its broadest extent. It covers latitudes 15 N to 75 S and longitudes 170 to 260 W. It lies in the Eridania quadrangle. Terra Cimmeria is one part of the heavily cratered, ...

, and Tyrrhena Terra. The name Amenthes is the Egyptian word for the place where the souls of the dead go. This quadrangle contains the Isidis basin, a location where

magnesium carbonate Magnesium carbonate, (archaic name magnesia alba), is an inorganic salt that is a colourless or white solid. Several hydrated and Base (chemistry), basic forms of magnesium carbonate also exist as minerals. Forms The most common magnesium car ...

was found by MRO. This mineral indicates that water was present and that it was not acidic. There are Dark slope streaks, troughs (fossae), and river valleys (

Vallis Vallis (plural Valles) is Latin for valley, vale; it may refer to the following : ;Places and jurisdictions on Earth * the Swiss canton Wallis * Vallis (see), an ancient city, former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see in Africa Proconsulari ...

) in this quadrangle. The Beagle 2 lander was about to land in the quadrangle, particularly in the eastern part of

, in December 2003, when contact with the craft was lost. In January 2015, NASA reported the Beagle 2 had been found on the surface in Isidis Planitia (location is about ). High-resolution images captured by the

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter The ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (''MRO'') is a spacecraft designed to search for the existence of water on Mars and provide support for missions to Mars, as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. It was launched from Cape Canaveral on Au ...

identified the lost probe, which appears to be intact. ( see discovery images here)

Craters

Some craters in the Amenthes region (as well as other parts of Mars) show ejecta around them that have lobes. It is believed that the lobed shape is caused by an impact into water or ice logged ground. Calculations suggest that ice is stable beneath the Martian surface. At the equator the stable layer of ice might lie under as much as 1 kilometer of material, but at higher latitudes the ice may be just a few centimeters below the surface. This was proven when the landing rockets on the

Phoenix lander ''Phoenix'' was an uncrewed space probe that landed on the surface of Mars on May 25, 2008, and operated until November 2, 2008. ''Phoenix'' was operational on Mars for sols ( days). Its instruments were used to assess the local habitabili ...

blew away surface dust to reveal an ice surface. The larger an impact crater, the deeper its penetration, a large crater is more likely to have a lobate ejecta since it went down to the ice layer. When even small craters have lobes, the ice level is close to the surface. This idea would be very important for future colonists on Mars who would like to live near a source of water. Impact craters generally have a rim with ejecta around them, in contrast volcanic craters usually do not have a rim or ejecta deposits. Sometimes craters will display layers. Since the collision that produces a crater is like a powerful explosion, rocks from deep underground are tossed unto the surface. Hence, craters can show us what lies deep under the surface. One crater in the Amenthes quadrangle is believed to be a source of nakhlite

meteorites A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheri ...

. A team of researchers found that these particular meteorites came from four different eruptions of lava because they showed different ages. The ages were measured by comparing

isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...

s of the element

argon Argon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ar and atomic number 18. It is in group 18 of the periodic table and is a noble gas. Argon is the third most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere, at 0.934% (9340 ppmv). It is more than twice as abu ...

. Since the ages vary from 93 to 1322 million years, the authors concluded that

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es grow much more slowly on Mars than the Earth. Many of the volcanoes on the Earth grow much quicker, as they form at plate boundaries. In contrast, Martian volcanoes probably form from plumes.

Hebrus Valles

Hebrus Vales has tributaries, terraces, and teardrop shaped islands. The tear drop shape of the islands indicate what direction the water used to flow. The terraces may be caused by different layers of rocks or from the water being at different levels. These features are common for the rivers of the Earth.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amenthes Quadrangle Mars

Craters

Hebrus Valles

See also

References

External links