•  This  subject  is  important  because  it  can  prove  the  theory  that  there  was  once  an  ocean  on  Mars  located  on  the  northern  pole.  It’s  important  to  know  whether  there  was  an  ocean  on  Mars  because  it  could  be  evidence  that  Mars  could  have  once  in  the  sustained  life  in  the  past.  Though  an    ocean  is  not  necessarily  needed  to  sustain  human  life,  it  could  act  as  an  environment  for  other  organisms.    

•  This  topic  is  interesting  because  it  could  lead  to  further  research  regarding  life  on  Mars.  Life  on  Mars  is  also  interesting  because  ice  is  a  rare  feature  in  space.  The  existence  of  ice  can  help  understand  other  planets  and  there  similarities  to  Earth.  

H:  The  closer  the  ice  is  to  the  pole  the  higher  the  elevation  of  the  ice.  

A1:  The  closer  the  ice  is  to  the  pole  the  lower  the  elevation  of  the  ice.  A2:  The  closer  the  ice  is  to  the  pole  and  the  elevation  will  not  be  effected.  

•  Poles:    The  end  of  a  planets  axis  of  rotation,  marking  the  northern  most  or  south  most  point  on  the  planet.  

•  Elevation:    The  height  to  which  something  is  elevated  or  to  which  it  rises.  

•  Ice:  The  solid  form  of  water,  produced  by  freezing;  frozen  water.    

Image ID: V40611004 http://themis.asu.edu/

Ice    

Faults  in  the  ice  

Ice on the surface of Mars forms when, a liquid or carbon dioxide, freezes when put under low temperatures, creating ice.

Image ID: V40059006 http://themis.asu.edu/

Google  Image  <http://www.msss.com/http/ps/moc/moc.html>.    

 

 In 2001 NASA discovered ice on Mars using the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Boynton, principal investigator, said “It may be better to characterize this layer as dirty ice rather than as dirt containing ice.” Also NASA has concluded that even though they have found Ice, does not mean it is liquid ice. NASA has stated it could also possibly be gas ice.

<http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm197586.htm#>.    

Steps: 1. First, I would go to the http://themis.asu.edu topic page* website to find images to observe. For my project I would look at images relating to Ice/Polar caps. 2. For each image I observe, I would write down the Image Identification Number So that I (or other scientists) could reexamine those same images at anytime. 3. For each image I observe I would write whether it did or did not have the specific Feature(s) in the image, that I am looking for. Even if the image does not have the Features(s) I am looking for it is still valuable data.

4. Next I would record Longitude and latitude of each image to look for any patterns in the observations I Make and also be able to plot that information on a map. 5. Type the longitude/latitude of the Themis image. 6. Click ‘View’ -> ‘Recenter image.’ 7. Click ‘add new layer’ -> ‘Stamps’ -> ‘Themis.’ 8. Type the image ID -> click ‘Okay.’ 9. Click the ‘Ruler’ tool in the toolbar -> Click and Drag across Wanted distance to measure. 10. Record data.

11. Right click the Themis image -> ‘View Themis stamps’ -> ‘Render ARB. 12. Zoom Image. 13. ‘Add new layer’ -> ‘Maps’ -> ‘Mola shaded relief.’ 14. Adjust transparency to zero. 15. Double click layer -> ‘Chart’ -> ‘Minimize chart.’ 16. Use ‘Selection’ tool from toolbar. 17. Draw a line across width of image. 18. ‘Reopen chart.’

19. Find highest and lowest points of elevation. 20. Subtract elevations to find difference. 21. Record measurments. 22. Repeat steps 5-21 for every Themis Image.

Image  (v)(id)   longitude   latitude   image  description   distance  from  poles  

(km)   Elevation  (m)  

V16615014   142.298 -­‐71.6878

This  image  shows  the    margin  of  the  south  polar  cap  .  And  shows  the  layers  of  the  ice   1088 1114

V15937002   56.5959 -­‐79.6614

this  picture  was  taken  in  the  summer  which  

melted  most  of  the  ice  making  the  image  more  

detailed   614 1044

V13129002   77.386 80.0017

this  picture  was  taken  in  the  spring  when  the  melting  ice  caused  

streakes   585.5 -­‐8906

V39631007   97.5027 -­‐86.1853

dark  spots  appear  on  the  south  polar  ice  caps  after  the  sun  has  shone  

on  the  caps   223 333

V40059006   36.0515 -­‐66.3816

Dark  surface  meterial  is  starting  to  appear  as  the  

frost  is  sublimeted   1396 336

V39861009   327.367 -­‐83.3642

Layering  in  the  south  pole  ice  is  easy  to  see  in  the  outlier  of  the  main  

pole     391 490

V39948009   275.27 -­‐87.0311

through  sides  and  floors  are  different  from  the  flat  top  of  the  surface  

car   174  

V40611004   296.925 -­‐81.517 "Inca  city  "intersecting  

ridges   510 975

V31451005   310.06 -­‐86.1246

As  the  suh  rises  over  the  south  pole  these  

intersecting  texture  are  revealed   223.9 80

V23116009   318.484 -­‐82.4047

The  layer  of  this    polar  caps  is  evidence  in  this  

image   445 582

V23142013   291.0188 -­‐81.357

This  image  of  the  south  margin  of  the  south  pollar  caps  show  sea  

level  ridges     514 734

V19199005   299.192 -­‐81.0987

The  unusal  surface  pattern  exsists  at  the  margin  of  the  north  polar  layars  deposit   525 -­‐9324

V11536002   299.265 82.7594

Distinctive  markings  on  the  caps  while  

defrosting  in  the  spring  and  the  summer   424 -­‐8106

V12048006   302.104 80.6114

This  image  represents  fresher  ice  in  a  blue  

color   554 9890

V02330006   142.389 79.4804

This  image  shows  sand  dunes  covered  in  C02  

frost   622.7 -­‐9280

V096317004   354.181 -­‐70.7124

This  image  shows    ice  defrosting  pieces  of  

sand   1146 142

V02381004   102.68 70.4127

This  image  shows  a  frosted  crater  in  the  northern  hemisphere   1161 8249

V39861009   327 -­‐83

This  image  shows  layering  in  the  southern  

polar  ice   391 551

V41990003   97 -­‐85

This  image  shows  that  the  surface  under  the  

ice  is  evedent   291.4 915

V28342002 80.201 84.76 this  image  shows  ice  on  the  north  pole    of  mars 321 309

V12597001 11.944 86.968 this  image  shows  ice  on  the  north  pole  of  mars   64 182.6

V12627002 217.875 89.644

this  image  shows  the  layers  of  the  northern  pole  of  mars   165   191

V12749001 263.893 86.26

this  image  shows  the  layers  of  the  northern  

pole  of  mars 411   244.9

V21986004 241.888 86.935

this  image  shows  the  layers  of  the  north  pole  

of  mars 244   182.2

V13058001 350.758 85.52

this  image  shows  the    layers  of  the  northern  

pole  of  mars 465   268.3

V11479001 180.198 85.469

this  image  shows  the  ice  at  the  top  of  the  northern  polar  cap   1595   258.7

-­‐90  

-­‐60  

-­‐30  

0  

30  

60  

90  

0   90   180   270   360  

 Latitude  

 Longitude  

Images  Ploted    on  a  Mola  Map  

   Our research is showing us that there is little to no relationship in the elevation of the ice and its distance away from the pole. However the data does show that there is a significant difference in the elevation of the north pole and that of the south pole. When studying the MOLA map, it is evident that the north pole had has a much lower elevation than that of the south pole.

 The  closer  the  ice  is  to  the  pole  the  higher  the  eleva0on  is.  Our  hypothesis  was  not  supported.  This  statement  was  proven  to  be  not  completely  wrong  in  our  research.  This  was  not  supported  because  image  V39631007  was  223  kilometers  away  from  the  poles  and  yet  it  had    an  eleva0on  of  333  meters.  Then  image  40059006    was  1396  kilometers  away  from  the  poles  but  had  an  eleva0on  of  336  meters.  Both  of  these  images  eleva0ons  were  around  the  same  even  though  their  distances  away  from  the  poles  were  hundreds  of  meters  a  part  .The  closer  the  ice  is  to  the  pole  the  eleva0on  does  not  change.  The  THEMIS  camera  takes  picture  at  one  point  and  0me  in  the  year.  How  solid  the  ice  is  could  have  varied  throughout  the  year  due  to  seasons  and  when  it  was  closest  to  the  sun.  Another  source  of  error  could  have  been  the  amount  of  pictures  the  were  used.  More  accurate  and  solid  data  would  have  been  applied  if  we  had  more  pictures  to  choose  from.      What  our  research  did  conclude  though,  is  that  the  ice  closest  to  the  north  pole  had  a  low  eleva0on  compared  to  the  ice  closest  to  the  south  pole  which  had  a  rather  high  eleva0on.  This  shows  great  support  to  Timothy  Parker’s  theory  that  the  north  pole  once  had  an  ocean  near,  on  or  in  it.  

•  Caplinger,  Michael.  "Mars  Observer  Webpage."  Online  Image.  Mars  Observer    Camera  Essay.  November  1995.  Nov  6  2012      <http://www.msss.com/http/ps/moc/moc.html>.    

     •  "Department  of  Health  and  Human  services."  Online  Image.    

 FDA  U.S  Food  and  Drug  Administration  .  August  10  2010.  November  6  2012    <http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm197586.htm#>.    

 •               

•  "Found  it!  Ice  on  Mars."  NASA  SCIENCE  NEWS.  2002.  NASA  Science.  Nov  6  2012    <http://science.nasa.gov/science-­‐news/science-­‐at-­‐  nasa/

2002/28may_marsice>.          

•  JMARS.  Mars  Space  Flight  facility,  Arizona  State  University.  October  29-­‐  Nov  6  2012.    V40059006.  http://themis.asu.edu/  

 •  JMARS.  Mars  space  Flight  Facility,  Arizona  State  University.  October  29-­‐  Nov  6  2012    V40611004.  http://themis.asu.edu/  

 

•  Young,  Amanda.  "Motivational  webpage."  Online  Image.  WOTPAST.      No  date.  Nov  6  2012      <http://wotpast.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/motivate-­‐me-­‐day-­‐two-­‐  melting-­‐ice/>.  

•  "North  and  Southpole/elevation."  Dictionary.com.  Dictionary.com,  20  Nov.      2012.  Web.  20  Nov.  2012.  <http://dictionary.reference.com/>.