ALBERT

Description: Doppler tracking data of three orbiting spacecraft have been reanalyzed to develop a new gravitational field model for the planet Mars, GMM-1 (Goddard Mars Model-1). This model employs nearly all available data, consisting of approximately 1100 days of S-bank tracking data collected by NASA's Deep Space Network from the Mariner 9, and Viking 1 and Viking 2 spacecraft, in seven different orbits, between 1971 and 1979. GMM-1 is complete to spherical harmonic degree and order 50, which corresponds to a half-wavelength spatial resolution of 200-300 km where the data permit. GMM-1 represents satellite orbits with considerably better accuracy than previous Mars gravity models and shows greater resolution of identifiable geological structures. The notable improvement in GMM-1 over previous models is a consequence of several factors: improved computational capabilities, the use of optimum weighting and least-squares collocation solution techniques which stabilized the behavior of the solution at high degree and order, and the use of longer satellite arcs than employed in previous solutions that were made possible by improved force and measurement models. The inclusion of X-band tracking data from the 379-km altitude, near-polar orbiting Mars Observer spacecraft should provide a significant improvement over GMM-1, particularly at high latitudes where current data poorly resolves the gravitational signature of the planet.

Description: Towards the end of February 1999, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft is expected to enter a near-circular polar orbit around Mars at an altitude of about 400 km. At this time the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) will begin near-continuous operation and acquire topography of the full planet. The initial areas of study will be concentrated in the southern hemisphere with particular interest in the polar region near the targeted landing site of the Mars Polar Lander. In addition to topography, MOLA matched filter pulse width data will be used to assess foot-print-scale surface roughness in the region. Such observations will also be applied in future studies for assessment of the Mars '01 landing site in the latitude range 15 degrees south to 5 degrees north.

Description: The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) is an instrument on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft that is currently providing the first high vertical and spatial resolution topographic measurements of surface elevations on Mars. The shot size in the mapping orbit is about 100 m and the shot-to-shot spacing is 330 m. The instrument has a vertical precision of 37.5 cm and a vertical accuracy that depends on the radial accuracy of the MGS orbit that is currently in the range 5-30 km. The initial focus on observations in the nominal mapping mission will be on the southern hemisphere, which was not sampled during the MGS aerobraking hiatus and Science Phasing orbits. During the first several weeks of global mapping there will be emphasis on producing a digital terrain model (DTM) of the Mars '98 landing site.

Description: The prominent gravity highs (mascons) associated with uncompensated mass anomalies in lunar mare basins are a dramatic expression of the present-day rigidity of the lunar lithosphere. First discovered in Lunar Orbiter tracking data, these about 350-mGal gravity highs have been redetermined from the analysis of Clementine and historical tracking. These highs coincide with topographic lows, indicating nonisostatic support. One of the rediscoveries of this analysis is the encirclement of the highs by substantial negative anomalies over topographic highs. Recent gravity fields are providing the increased resolution necessary to determine the causes of this unique mascon signature. The compensation of the basin anomalies remains controversial. The mascon highs have long been interpreted as the result of mare loading, subsequent to the decay of residual stresses resulting from the impact. Substantially more mare fill is required to produce mascon highs than has been inferred on geological grounds, and the amount of near-surface mass deficit required to produce a gravity most exceeds bounds inferred from terrestrial examples. This problem is most acute for the youngest basin, Orientale. Recent gravity fields from Lunar Prospector have suggested mascon highs associated with nonmare basins such as Mendel-Rydberg, or minimally filled basins like Humboldtianum, further calling this explanation into question. We suggest that the mascon gravity signal is produced by a combination of crustal thickness changes, manifested by central mantle uplift, outward displacement of crust, and downward flexure of the lithosphere under mare loading. The mantle uplift is superisostatic, maintained by residual stresses resulting from the process of impact cratering and modification. In particular, the process of crater collapse and mantle rebound terminates abruptly, leaving the mantle plug in a non-equilibrium state, surrounded by a ring of thickened crust. Viscous relaxation over geological timescales has erased some but not all of the signature of the impact process. Mantle uplift inferred from gravity modeling is inversely correlated with age. While the oldest basins such as South Pole Aitken are mainly compensated isotatically, the younger basins appear to have been in a state of superisostatic loading prior to mare emplacement. If this is true, this places an important constraint on the impact process at basin scales. The idea that rebound of the transient crater via acoustic fluidization may freeze substantial stresses imcomplete to this day, may be tested by examining the gravity signatures of major basins on terrestrial bodies. The moon provides the clearest resolved examples to date, but uncertainty in gravity knowledge remains problematic.

Description: The Magellan images of Venus have revealed a number of intriguing volcanic features, including the steep-sided or 'pancake' domes. These volcanic domes or flows have morphologies that suggest formation by a single continuous emplacement of lava with a higher viscosity than that of the surrounding basaltic plains. Numerous investigators have suggested that such high viscosity is due to high silica content, leading to the conclusion that the domes are evidence of evolved magmatic products on Venus. However, viscosity depends on crystallinity as well as on silica content: high viscosity could therefore also be due to a cooler (and therefore higher crystal content) lava. Models of dome emplacement which include both cooling and composition factors are thus necessary in order to determine the ranges of crystallinity and silica content which might lead to the observed gross dome morphologies. Accordingly, in this study domes are modelled as radial viscous gravity currents with an assumed cooling-induced viscosity increase to include both effects. Analytical and numerical results indicate that pancake dome formation is feasible with compositions ranging from basaltic to rhyolitic. Therefore, observations of gross dome morphology alone are insufficient for determining composition and the domes do not necessarily represent strong evidence for evolved magmatism on Venus.

Description: Rifting is examined as the growth of a necking instability. A rift is nucleated by means of a small thickness perturbation imposed at the base of a strong layer which overlies a weaker substrate. The conditions for which the initial disturbance will amplify as the lithosphere extends are evaluated for a range of rheological parameters, and the associated pattern of near-surface deformation is determined. It was found that this unstable lithospheric extension results in a pattern of deformation that is consistent with the major morphological characteristics of rift zones. For an initial perturbation narrower than the dominant wavelength, deformation concentrates in a zone of width comparable to the dominant wavelength; for an initial thickness perturbation wider than the dominant wavelength, deformation develops periodically at the dominant wavelength in the region above the perturbation. It is noted that the width of a rift is essentially independent of the layer/substrate strength ratio. For a power law viscous surface layer (n = 3), the dominant wavelength varies with the layer/substrate strength ratio to the one-third power and is always larger than for a plastic surface layer of the same thickness. The unstable extension of a strong viscous surface layer may be responsible for the great width of rift zones on Venus.

Description: The first detailed topographic measurements of Mars' north polar cap have recently been collected by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), an instrument on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). These new data provide the opportunity to address in a quantitative way the processes responsible for the origin and evolution of the martian polar caps. On the basis of imaging and spectral observations from the Mariner 9 and Viking orbiters, it was recognized that a number of physical mechanisms. including radiative transfer, wind erosion, and viscous flow, represent possible or probable contributors to the morphology of the polar cap. Here we review rheological data for H2O and CO2 at conditions relevant to the martian polar regions. We then use MOLA topographic profiles to perform a preliminary assessment of the role of power law flow in contributing to the regional-scale planform of the north polar cap.

Description: Since its arrival at Mars on September l5, 1997, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) has been in a near-polar elliptical orbit, with the orbital eccentricity decreasing during orbital periapse passes where the spacecraft aerobrakes through the martian atmosphere. The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), an instrument on the MGS, has the ability to range to the martian surface during nonaerobraking passes. MOLA can operate whenever the range from the spacecraft to the surface is less than 786 km, with the limit determined by the number of bits encoded for the range measurement During the capture orbit, aerobraking hiatus, and science phasing orbit (SPO) mission phases, MOLA acquired approximately 200 profiles across the northern hemisphere of Mars and provided more than 2,000,000 measurements of the radius of the planet. These observations cover the region from the north pole to about 10 degrees S latitude with a precision of a few tens of centimeters and an accuracy (at present) of about 30 in. Absolute accuracy of the elevations is limited by the knowledge of the MGS orbits; these should improve later in the mission due to a more optimal tracking geometry, an improved gravitational field, and the use of the high-gain antenna once the spacecraft achieves its approximately 400-km-altitude circular mapping orbit. MOLA measurements so far show a planet with a low, flat high-latitude region in the north and a higher, topographically rougher terrain nearer the equator. The north polar cap stands approximately 2-3 km above the surrounding terrain and displays deep chasms and complex structure. MOLA measurements of elevation, 1064-nm reflectivity, and backscattered pulse width indicate that the layered terrains are composed mainly of ice.

Description: The development of a model for deformation in an extending continental lithosphere that is stratified in density and strength is described. The lithosphere model demonstrates that the necking instabilities at two wavelengths originate due to a strong upper crust, a mantle layer, and a weak lower crust. It is observed that the dominant wavelengths of necking are controlled by layer thickness and the strength of the layers control the amplitude of the instabilities. The model is applied to the Basin and Range Province of the western U.S. where deformations in ranges and tile domains are detected. The relation between the Bouguer gravity anomaly and the deformations is studied. The data reveal that the horizontal scale of short wavelength necking correlates with the spacings of individual basins and ranges, and the longer wavelength corresponds to the width of tilt domains. The control of the Basin and Range deformation by two scales of extensional instability is proposed.