Jennifer L. B. Anderson

Winona State University

This exercise is designed for an advanced geomorphology course for upper-level students who have no prior experience in planetary science.

• Making a cross-section
• General experience with geologic maps
• General knowledge of surficial processes such as plate tectonics and volcanology

• Students will investigate geologic features common to the Earth, Moon and Mars, such as volcanoes, impact craters, and fluvial and tectonic features.
• Students will gain experience in using images, data sets, and other planetary data primarily gained from orbiting spacecraft.

• Students will create geologic maps from orbital images and infer geologic processes and histories of a region based on surface morphology.
• Students will apply their knowledge of terrestrial geology to other planets, incorporating the physical characteristics of the other planet.

Prior to this lab exercise, students discuss general physical differences between the planets Earth, Moon and Mars, and why these physical differences exist. They use globes and global data sets in lecture to investigate large-scale patters, similarities and differences between these bodies. They discuss methods by which planetary geologists study the surfaces of other planets. While working on this laboratory exercise, they use maps of the Earth, Moon and Mars (both geologic and topographic) as well as data from missions such as Clementine, MOLA, and HRSC, which they obtain online. The investigate impact crater morphology between the Earth and Moon; comparative planetary geology in the form of fluvial, tectonic, and volcanologic comparisons of Earth and Mars; and complete a geologic map and history of a region of Mars using only orbital images and data sets.

Primarily, I look to the clarity of their finished geologic map and cross-sections as well as their descriptions and applications of geologic reasoning to other planets.