Earthlike Mars? Options

[glennwsmith]

All, I know this isn't the right place for this post, but I've looked around and can't find an appropriate, current UMSF forum (Doug, perhaps you could give me some guidance on establishing such) -- so here goes: I think a [the] new paradigm for Martian geology is rapidly coalescing, namely, that Mars is very much like the Earth in terms of the preponderance of water -- except that it is all frozen, and covered under a thin layer of dust/regolith! See, for example, this article:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/41995902.html

Hence the "seepages" found in crater walls; hence the evidence of catastophic flooding -- the result of volcanism melting huge pockets of ice. And I am going to add my own wrinkle (probably not original): that the differentiation of Mars into a rougher southern hemisphere and smoother northern hemsphere represents something like Earth's Pangea stage, ie, the northern hemisphere is a vast frozen sea covered with a thin layer of ice.

[glennwsmith]

Marsisimportant, thanks for adding the primeval collision to the overall picture -- you and Dburt have covered all the important bases, and in doing so, you have clarified for me what I was hoping to do with my original post, which was to paint a picture -- at which I will now, thanks to the infinite patience of Doug Ellison and all you other UMSF members, take another whack. To wit: I have been looking at the global pictures of Mars for some years now, and I have never been able to make sense out of what I am seeing. Yes, it is Earth's sister planet, but it just hasn't made any sense to me. But suddenly -- seeing the Hirise photo of a recent meteor strike on the Northern plains throwing out rays of ice -- it has all become clear. Imagine Earth at the Pangea stage with its seas frozen, and the entire planet covered with a thin layer of dust -- it would look very much like Mars today (allowing for the fact that the dust covering Mars is rich in iron oxide). I hope I am not beating a dead horse, I am just trying to explain my eureka moment. But maybe I'm behind the curve, and all of this has been obvious to most UMSF members for some time . . .