Bradley Central High School 4 th Hour Physics Introduction: Our scientific question is, is there a connection between the location and size of a crater. Our underlying questions are, is there a correlation between the length and depth, is there a correlation between the location and size, and if there is a correlation of dimension between craters at different altitudes. Background: A fracture is a division, split, or breach on the surface that is typically has straight lines and sharp angles. Altitude is the angular distance of a celestial body from the horizon measured along the vertical circle passing through the body. Depth is the extent, measurement, or distance downwards, backwards, or inwards. Dimension is any one of the three physical or spatial properties of length, area, and volume. A crater is a circular or almost circular area having a depressed floor, almost always containing a central mountain and usually completely enclosed by walls that are often higher than those of a walled plain. This is an example of craters.
This is an example of a crater and a fracture. This image has a fracture and multiple craters.
This image has multiple fractures as well as fractures. This picture has a fracture.
This image has a few craters.
This image helps to show the formation of craters.
This is the area that we targeted
This is our image. Specific Knowledge: Our mission is to understand the past roles of groundwater and faulting on Mars by studying similar locations on Earth. "We were looking at rock fractures called 'deformation bands'. We saw hundreds of small fractures that appear to have directed water through ancient Martian sandstone that now can be seen on the surface. As said by Chris Okubo. We found that deformation bands commonly form in sandstone as dense clusters of small-scale faults within deformed rocks. We looked around Nili Fossae, and found that some of these fractures are estimated to be 500 meters deep and are believed to have formed around the same time as the basin. We also found that The Nili Fossae system is made up of numerous graben, concentrically orientated around the edges of the Idris basin. We studied columnar joints in Mars and on Earth. The fractures, or columnar joints, are the first that have been observed on a planet other than Earth. The impact crater where the columns were discovered is in a region that has a history of extensive volcanic activity. On Earth, columnar joints are common in the rocks of the Colorado Plateau, which provide a study site for comparisons to Mars.
Experimental Design: We used the THEMIS camera system from the Mars Odyssey Spacecraft visible imaging system and, focused on fractures and location of fractures to determine if there is any relation in their sizes. We used 52 images as our data. While in the JMARS program we explored each image, recorded the image id, latitude, longitude, and the size of the fracture if there are any present. We recorded measurements based on the length, depth, width, and location. While using JMARS we decided that we wanted to us the THEMIS IR 100m GMv11.5 because it had a clearest image, we deleted nomenclature, and used zoom 512. Zoom 512 we perfect because we could see just enough details about the craters and fractures We had three target sites. For site one, we went from -5 to +5 Latitude, 350 to 360 Longitudes, with a concentration of Hematite, Feldspar, and Sulfate. For site two we went from latitude -10 to +30, Longitude 300 to 330, which had a concentration of Carbonate and Plagioclase. Site three we went to latitudes -26 to -46, Longitudes 250 to 360, which had no major concentration of minerals.
This is an image of where the Hematite was located. This is where feldspar was found. This is the region sulfate was located in.
Carbonate was located in this region. Plagiclase was highly concentrated in this region.
We used the used the Themis IR 100m GM v 11.5 because it gave us clear image results. We deleted the nomeclature tab, and we looked through different zooms and decided on 512 because we could see enough details about the craters and fractures without being pixilated. Analysis Plan: Latitude Longitude Fractures present Diameter left to right (km) Diameter top to bottom (km) Depth of Crater (m) Type of largest Crater present Regolith Concentration -5 30 No 39.8 37.7 4 Destroyed None -25 325 No 154 148 172 Modified 5 360 No 43.6 44.5 198 Preserved Carbonate Plagioclase Hematite Feldspar Sulfate -26 29 Yes 92 92.5 255 Modified None -30 300 Yes 5.4 5.3 134 Preserved -5 350 Yes 12 11.5 98 Preserved Carbonate Plagioclase Hematite Feldspar Sulfate We used this chart as an example of how we organized our data.
We used this google doc form to help us to set up our database to organize our information.
Graphs: We used this graph to display the differences in the width top to bottom and the width left to right.
This also displays the differences between the width top to bottom and the width left to right, but includes a correlation coefficient (r =.88)
This graph shows the difference in the width versus the depth of a crater near a fracture.
This graph like the previous one shows the difference in the width versus the depth of a crater near a fracture, but includes a correlation coefficient (r =.41).
Diameter of Craters near Faults Hema5te, Feldspar & Sulfate 120 100 80 Diameter (km) 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 Craters This graph represents the diameter of the craters that are located near the concentration of Hematite, Feldspar, and Sulfate.
120 Diameter of Craters near Faults Carbonate & Plagioclase 100 Diameter (km) 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Craters This graph is like the previous one, but compares the diameter of craters near faults, carbonate, and plagioclase.
Diameter of Craters near Faults no regolith concentra5on 120 100 80 Diameter (km) 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 Craters This graph shows the diameter of craters that where near faults with no regolith concentration.
Inaccuracies/Misrepresentations: We only did the even values for longitude and we skipped every 5 on latitude, so we could have missed some data. In reviewing the data, we found some issues and deleted entries before analyzing. These issues included some views that were entered twice, latitudes and longitudes that were outside the target area of study, and craters that were only measured left to right, but not top to bottom. One entry had negative latitude and longitudes. Since this was our first time using JMARS, we may have had some potential errors, such as the wrong classification of craters; while on person may have classified a crater as preserved, another might have classified it as modified. While we had set parameters for each type of crater, the possibility still exists. We also did a square view of the image of the minerals giving us some areas that weren t as concentrated as others. Conclusion: The maximum size of the largest crater present near a fracture in the site with a Hematite, Feldspar, and Sulfate concentration was 34 km. The minimum was 2 km, and the average size was 18 km. In the site with Carbonate and Plagioclase the maximum was 48 km, the minimum was 4, and the average was 22. At the site with No major concentrations of minerals, the maximum size was 112 km, the minimum size was 7 km and the average size was 57 km. We found a high correlation (r =.88) between the measure of the diameter going top to bottom versus left to right. This shows that the craters have not changed much, which was expected since there is no plate tectonic movement on Mars. We found a low correlation (r =.41) between the average diameter of a crater and the depth when located near fractures. This shows that there was little relationship between the size of the craters and the depth that the craters made. We found a total of 16 places that had craters with fractures present: four within the site with Hematite, Feldspar and Sulfate, seven within the site with Carbonate and Plagioclase, and five within the site with no major concentrations. It appears that there is no major difference between the location of fractures and the type of regolith. Average size of largest crater near a fracture was: 18 km in the area with Hematite, Feldspar and Sulfate, 22 km in the area with Carbonate and Plagioclase, and 57 km in the site with no major concentrations. It appears that there is a relationship between the type of regolith and the size of the largest crater near a fracture. It appears that smaller craters can form fractures in the regolith when there is a high concentration of Hematite, Feldspar, Sulfate, Carbonate, and Plagioclase as opposed to areas where there is not a high concentration.
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