Former Plate Tectonics Supports Early Mars Ocean. Options

[Guest_RGClark_*]

New Map Provides More Evidence Mars Once Like Earth.
http://www.physorg.com/news7323.html

See for example here:

Plate Tectonics: The Mechanism.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tecmech.html

Bob Clark

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

Interesting...

but the banded patterns appear only in half of Mars, and are really apparent in only one region.

Either there was only a start of plate tectonics, or the magnetic remnants were later cancelled.

With my opinion this plate tectonics existed only in early Mars history, the first hundred million years. It resulted into a relatively flat surface, without continents (on Earth continents appeared only a billion years after the beginning). (All the surface features of this epoch are now hidden by the intense cratering of early solar system). But when the marsian core solidified, the magnetif field disappeared, the plate tectonics ceased, and since the marsian tectonics is very different of Earth's, resulting into the Tharsis dome and located but very large volcanoes.

Recent measurements of Earth heat source suggest that the solidifying of the core yelds four times more heat than radioactive heating. This results in mantle movements driven by the very bottom. On Mars there is only radioactive heating diffuse into the mantle, explaining that its today tectonics may be very different of Earth's.