MSIP Proposal Milks Period 5

What creates Mars channels like Tinjar Valis: Lava or Water?

Image: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/files/2013/03/mars-600.jpg

I. Introduction

· OUR QUESTION: What processes form channels like Tinjar

Vallis?

· WHY THIS QUESTION:

· It is important to answer this question because we want to know if Mars is suitable for humans to live on. Our main focus is to see if Mars has/had water.

I.Introduction I · OUR QUESTION: What processes form channels like Tinjar

Vallis?

· HYPOTHESES: Channels that look like Tinjar Vallis will have

features like Earth channels formed by water.

Tinjar Vallis V11030007, (http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20040519a)

II. Background information: Channels •  Information about Channels from (Allison et al., 2010, page 411):

•  Channels are what streams follow and make as they go downhill Tributaries are small streams that flow into bigger streams.

•  On Earth, channels made from streams may meander, twist and curving back on itself in a low gradient stream or river

•  Braided Stream is a stream or river with multiple channels made by sediment being left behind as the water goes

Braided Streams

picture: http://www.geologyclass.org/Stream%20Concepts.htm

Tributaries on Earth and Mars: little streams to rivers On Earth

On Mars

Pic: http://www.directom.com/internet-marketing-blog/why-linking-out-is-a-bobby-jindal-no-brainer_430.html

Pic: http://ase.tufts.edu/cosmos/view_picture.asp?id=1142

Channels formed by water on Earth http://www.geographicguide.com/pictures/england.jpg

The English Channel is made by an Ocean.

Channels formed by lava on Earth http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/hawaiivolcanoes/images/hawaii09.jpg

Some channels like this are formed by lava. This one is in Hawaii. Scientists study them to try to figure out what makes channels on Mars. Sometimes channels formed by water and by lava have similar shapes (NASA Mission News), and sometimes they are different (like the features in the Supplemental Material).

http://marsed.mars.asu.edu/mars-image-analysis

II. Background information: channels

•  Our first feature on Mars was Tinjar Vallis. It was thought to form by water flowing through and wearing away at the sediment and moving it. if these channels were on Earth they would have been caused by creeks or rivers eroding the land.

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20040519a

Artist rendition

Facts about T.V.: Northern Hemisphere of Mars Latitude: 28.1504 Longitude:131.621

III. Experimental Design •  What specific spacecraft and camera will you use to collect data for your

research? http://themis.asu.edu/about The spacecraft we will be using is called the Odyssey. The camera we will be

using is called the Thermal Emissions Imaging System. (About Themis and the Mars Odyssey Mission, http://themis.asu.edu/about)

Image from http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmars/edbrief/updateFS6.jpg

III. Experimental Design •  What specific geologic features will you focus on for your study and why?

We want to know what formed Tinjar Vallis, so we're focusing on the area around it and other channels.

•  What geographic regions, if any, will you focus on for your study? (For

example, certain latitude bands, certain regions (northern or southern hemisphere), etc.). Note: It is not recommended to focus on one specific geographic location on Mars.

We want to look at different channels on Mars and see if they look like

channels formed by water on Earth. We also want to check the region around Tinjar Vallis to see whether there are other features of water-formed channels nearby, like outputs or tributaries.

III. Experimental Design What website(s) will you use to gather your data and how will you use it

(them)? Be specific.

•  Themis.asu.edu: we want to use the picture of Tinjar Vallis to compare other channels on Earth. We are still searching for a good resource about Earth channels.

How many THEMIS images will you need to gather in order to answer your science question?

At least 10, so we get a good representation of different channels or more images to compare them to our original Tinjar Vallis picture. We also will need to look at THEMIS images that are near Tinjar Vallis. We do not know how many there are yet.

III. Experimental Design •  As part of your experiment design, list the specific information you plan to record in a table from

each image you observe, and why?

We will make two data tables: Both will have

Image identification # (V#): This will allow us and other scientists to reexamine the images we observed to check our data.

Latitude and longitude: This will allow us to map where each image we examine is located Geographic details: Using the feature guide at http://marsed.mars.asu.edu/mars-image-analysis, we

will write down details about what we see in the images, particulalry features of channels.

One data table will be about channels from the Themis Image collection about channels that look like Tinjar Vallis (http://themis.asu.edu/image_of_the_day/channels), and the other will be about THEMIS images that surround Tinjar Vallis.

IV. Analysis Plan

Image ID (V #) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Geographic Details

VO3578003 29.7 Degrees N 132.5 Degrees E there is a higher elevation that appears to be a volcano relatively close to T.V. that suggests that it may be lava formed.

no V available 24. 688 degrees N 139.781 Degrees E The channels are many miles long, too long for lava to flow continuously without cooling and hardening

J Mars (no V available)

24.688 Degrees N 139.781 Degrees E there is a channel like formation that flows though Tinjar Vallis from a large indent in the surface that resembles a past lake.

IV. Analysis Plan

Higher elevation

Lower elevation

Do the channels in the circle have water-like features? Lava-like features? What about at even lower elevations?

IV. Analysis Plan We will display our results as annotated images because they will show how we are

interpreting the images.

We will also show elevation MOLA map of the area surrounding Tinjar Vallis.

To see where similar channels are around Mars, we will use a map of all of Mars and add points where the channels we see in the Image Gallery are located.

http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/globalData/images/fullscale/MOLA_cylin.jpg

V. Conclusion We want to know what processes form channels like Tinjar Vallis? We think that Channels that look like Tinjar Vallis will have features like Earth

channels formed by water. We also wonder what the area nearby Tinjar Vallis looks like in more detail. What was the geology of the area like in the past?

Our proposal should be accepted because it is important to answer this question because, we want to know if Mars is suitable for humans to live on. Our main focus is to see if Mars has/had water.

We also want to know about what we will need to learn about planets in the

"Goldilocks" zone. We know that you can find planets using Kepler's Transit Tracks that might have liquid water. We plan to visit as humans and need to get better at traveling in space. We need to know about water on planets, now and in history, to figure out how to do that.

VI. References

About THEMIS and the Mars Odyssey Mission. Retrieved April 20, 2013: http://themis.asu.edu/about Alison, M.A., DeGaetano, A.T., and Pasachoff, J.M. (2010). Earth science. Holt McDougal. Kepler: A search for habitable planets. Retrieved March 31, 2013: http://kepler.nasa.gov/ Mars Image Analysis supplemental materials. Retrieved April 15, 2013, from Arizona State University, Mars Student Imaging Project Web site:http://marsed.mars.asu.edu/mars-image-analysis. MaMars NASA Mission News: Lava likely made river-like channel on Mars. Retrieved May 2, 2013: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/mars-lava-channels.html Themis Image of the Day: Featured Image Channels. Retrieved May 7, 2013, from Mars Oddesy THEMIS website: http://themis.asu.edu/image_of_the_day/channels Watt, K. (2002). Mars Student Imaging Project: Resource Manual. Retrieved April 15, 2013, from Arizona State University, Mars Student Imaging Project Web site: http://msip.asu.edu/curriculum.html.