Utopia Planitia
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Utopia Planitia (Greek and Latin: "Utopia Land Plain") is a large plain[1] within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on MarsTemplate:Efn and in the Solar System with an estimated diameter of Template:Cvt.[2] It is the Martian region where the Viking 2 lander touched down and began exploring on September 3, 1976, and the Zhurong rover touched down on May 14, 2021, as a part of the Tianwen-1 mission.[3][4] It is located at the antipode of Argyre Planitia, centered at Template:Coord.[1] It is also in the Casius quadrangle, Amenthes quadrangle, and the Cebrenia quadrangle of Mars. The region is in the broader North Polar/Borealis Basin that covers most of the Northern Hemisphere of Mars.
The Utopia basin is estimated to have formed around 4.3-4.1 billion years ago.[5][6] The impactor was likely around Template:Convert in diameter.[7][8][9] The basin was subsequently mostly filled in, resulting in a mascon (a strong positive gravity anomaly) detectable by orbiting satellites.[10][11]
Many rocks at Utopia Planitia appear perched, as if wind removed much of the soil at their bases.[12][13] A hard surface crust is formed by solutions of minerals moving up through soil and evaporating at the surface.[14] Some areas of the surface exhibit scalloped topography, a surface that looks like it was carved out by an ice cream scoop. This surface is thought to have formed by the degradation of an ice-rich permafrost.[15] Many features that look like pingos on the Earth are found in Utopia Planitia (~35–50° N; ~80–115° E).[16]
On November 22, 2016, NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region. The volume of water detected has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior.[17][18][19]
Scalloped topography
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Template:Multiple image Scalloped topography is common in the mid-latitudes of Mars, between 45° and 60° north and south. It is particularly prominent in the region of Utopia Planitia[20][21] in the northern hemisphere and in the region of Peneus and Amphitrites Patera[22][23] in the southern hemisphere. Such topography consists of shallow, rimless depressions with scalloped edges, commonly referred to as scalloped depressions or simply Template:Em. Scalloped depressions can be isolated or clustered and sometimes seem to coalesce. A typical scalloped depression displays a gentle equator-facing slope and a steeper pole-facing scarp. This topographic asymmetry is probably due to differences in insolation. Scalloped depressions are believed to form from the removal of subsurface material, possibly interstitial ice, by sublimation. This process may still be happening at present.[24]
In popular culture
In the Star Trek media franchise, Utopia Planitia—both on Mars's surface and a space station in areosynchronous orbit above it—is the site of a major United Federation of Planets shipyard, the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. Ships such as the USS Enterprise-D, USS Defiant, USS Voyager and USS Sao Paulo were built there.[25]
See also
Notes
References
External links
- Laser altimetry of the north pole of Mars Utopia Planitia located in upper right
- Google Mars scrollable map – centered on Utopia Planitia
- VL2 Site: Utopia Planitia (NASA)
- PIA00576: Martian Sunrise at Utopia Planitia (NASA Photojournal)
- PIA00530: Frost on Utopia Planitia (NASA Photojournal)
- PIA03796: Utopia Planitia (NASA Photojournal)
Template:Geography of Mars Template:Viking and Mars Pathfinder Template:Portal bar Template:Authority control
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- ↑ Mutch, T. et al. 1976. "The Surface of Mars: The View from the Viking 2 Lander". Science: 194. 1277–1283.
- ↑ Hartmann, W. 2003. A Traveler's Guide to Mars. Workman Publishing. New York.
- ↑ Arvidson, R. A. Binder, and K. Jones. 1976. "The Surface of Mars". Scientific American: 238. 76–89.
- ↑ Sejourne, A. et al. 2012. Evidence of an eolian ice-rich and stratified permafrost in Utopia Planitia, Mars. Icarus. 60:248–254.
- ↑ Soare, E., et al. 2019. Possible (closed system) pingo and ice-wedge/thermokarst complexes at the mid latitudes of Utopia Planitia, Mars. Icarus. Script error: No such module "doi".
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