Utopia Planitia

Utopia Planitia
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Map of the lower and mid-latitudes of Mars, with Utopia visible in dark blue in the top right
Feature typeImpact basin
LocationNortheast of Isidis Planitia, northwest of Aetheria
Coordinates46°42′N 117°30′E / 46.7°N 117.5°E / 46.7; 117.5
Diameter3,300 km (2,100 mi).[1]
Frosted terrian on Utopia Planitia, taken by the Viking 2 lander in 1979

Utopia Planitia (Greek and Latin: "Utopia Land Plain") is a large plain[2] within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars[a] and in the Solar System with an estimated diameter of 3,300 km (2,100 mi).[1] 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.[4][5] It is located at the antipode of Argyre Planitia, centered at 46°42′N 117°30′E / 46.7°N 117.5°E / 46.7; 117.5.[2] 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.[6][7] The impactor was likely around 400–700 kilometres (250–430 mi) in diameter.[8][9][10] The basin was subsequently mostly filled in, resulting in a mascon (a strong positive gravity anomaly) detectable by orbiting satellites.[11][12]

Many rocks at Utopia Planitia appear perched, as if wind removed much of the soil at their bases.[13][14] A hard surface crust is formed by solutions of minerals moving up through soil and evaporating at the surface.[15] 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.[16] Many features that look like pingos on the Earth are found in Utopia Planitia (~35–50° N; ~80–115° E).[17]

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.[18][19][20]

  1. ^ a b McGill, G. E. (1989-03-10). "Buried topography of Utopia, Mars: Persistence of a giant impact depression". Journal of Geophysical Research. 94: 2753–2759. Bibcode:1989JGR....94.2753M. doi:10.1029/JB094iB03p02753.
  2. ^ a b "Utopia Planitia". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  3. ^ "Utopia". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center.
  4. ^ "China succeeds on country's first Mars landing attempt with Tianwen-1". nasaspaceglight.com. 15 May 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "China's first Mars rover Tianwen-1 launches this week. Here's what it will do". Space.com. 21 July 2020.
  6. ^ Robbins, Stuart J. (2022-12-01). "Inconsistency between the Ancient Mars and Moon Impact Records of Megameter-scale Craters". The Planetary Science Journal. 3 (12): 274. doi:10.3847/PSJ/aca282. ISSN 2632-3338.
  7. ^ Frey, Herbert (July 2008). "Ages of very large impact basins on Mars: Implications for the late heavy bombardment in the inner solar system". Geophysical Research Letters. 35 (13). doi:10.1029/2008GL033515. ISSN 0094-8276.
  8. ^ Arkani-Hamed, Jafar (April 2005). "Giant impact basins trace the ancient equator of Mars". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 110 (E4). doi:10.1029/2004JE002343. ISSN 0148-0227.
  9. ^ Ruedas, Thomas; Breuer, Doris (May 2018). ""Isocrater" impacts: Conditions and mantle dynamical responses for different impactor types". Icarus. 306: 94–115. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2018.02.005.
  10. ^ Branco, Hely C.; Miljkovic, Katarina; Plesa, Ana‐Catalina (April 2024). "New Numerically Derived Scaling Relationships for Impact Basins on Mars". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 129 (4). doi:10.1029/2023JE008217. ISSN 2169-9097.
  11. ^ Klokočník, Jaroslav; Kletetschka, Gunther; Kostelecký, Jan; Bezděk, Aleš (December 2023). "Gravity aspects for Mars". Icarus. 406: 115729. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115729.
  12. ^ Searls, Mindi L.; Banerdt, W. Bruce; Phillips, Roger J. (August 2006). "Utopia and Hellas basins, Mars: Twins separated at birth". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 111 (E8). doi:10.1029/2005JE002666. ISSN 0148-0227.
  13. ^ Mutch, T. et al. 1976. "The Surface of Mars: The View from the Viking 2 Lander". Science: 194. 1277–1283.
  14. ^ Hartmann, W. 2003. A Traveler's Guide to Mars. Workman Publishing. New York.
  15. ^ Arvidson, R. A. Binder, and K. Jones. 1976. "The Surface of Mars". Scientific American: 238. 76–89.
  16. ^ Sejourne, A. et al. 2012. Evidence of an eolian ice-rich and stratified permafrost in Utopia Planitia, Mars. Icarus. 60:248–254.
  17. ^ Soare, E., et al. 2019. Possible (closed system) pingo and ice-wedge/thermokarst complexes at the mid latitudes of Utopia Planitia, Mars. Icarus. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.03.010
  18. ^ Staff (November 22, 2016). "Scalloped Terrain Led to Finding of Buried Ice on Mars". NASA. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  19. ^ "Lake of frozen water the size of New Mexico found on Mars – NASA". The Register. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  20. ^ "Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior". NASA. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2016.


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