UNRAVELING THE GEOLOGIC AND TECTONIC HISTORY OF BATHYS PLANUM, MARS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF THARSIS

Structural mapping is vital to unraveling the geologic histories at local to global scales on Earth and Mars. For example, maps delineating structures of various ages can be used to characterize potential stress sources, strain magnitudes and fault history, and pre-existing structural controls that may relate to episodes of local or regional tectonism. For Mars, the formation of the Tharsis rise dominated the geologic and tectonic histories. Bathys Planum region appears to be an area that was heavily affected by the initial formation of Claritas rise. This region is located on the southwestern flanks of the Tharsis and is centered at -35°S and 245°E. Due to its location, this region holds a significant key to improving our understanding of the timing of the formation of the Claritas rise. Detailed examination of the geologic units and tectonic structures within this region provides an excellent window into identifying the tectonic processes that influenced the geologic evolution of the western hemisphere region. In this meeting, we plan on presenting our preliminary 1:1,000,000-scale geologic map of the Bathys Planum region of Mars.