Mars Mission
01- Canals
02- Mariners
03- Riverbeds
04- Sub-surface Ice
05- Fleet
06- Martian Ice
07- Slope Streaks
08- Water Found
09- Phyllocian Era
10- Theikian Era
11- Siderikan Era
12- Martian Regions
13- Obliquity
14- Martian Tectonics
15- Topographic Morph
16- Crustal Magnetism
17- Original Impact
18- Polar Regions
19- Hydrated Minerals
20- Theikian Warming
21- New Phoenix Snow
22- Equatorial Glaciers
23- Ancient Ice
24- Continental Snow Drift

17 - Original Impact

Click here for enlarged diagram


 

As the Pacific spreading pushes the Central American plates forward to form the Tharsis shield volcanoes, the Himalayan mountain range is simultaneously pushed forward from the other side and, as it collapses into new volcanism, it comes to rest closer to the volcanoes. Its remnant volcanism pulls open Valles Marineris, the large tear that corresponds to the scar of the original impact.

NOTE: By this stage the oceans and most of the atmosphere are gone. This process is partly related to climate change. The effect of the water activity of Mars plays a large part in the reshaping of this topography. Both are covered in 'Global Warming'.

   
  Alan Lambert © 2009