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| Noachis | |
|---|---|
| Name | Noachis |
| Type | Martian highland region |
| Named after | Latin for "of Noah" |
| Notable features | Noachis Terra, Noachis quadrangle |
Noachis
Noachis is a heavily cratered highland region on Mars notable for ancient terrain and dense impact basins, forming part of the southern uplands near Hellas Planitia. The region has been studied by missions including Mariner 9, Viking program, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars Global Surveyor for its implications about Mars' early crust, impact chronology, and possible aqueous alteration. Researchers from institutions such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, European Space Agency, and NASA have focused on Noachis for stratigraphic mapping, crater counting, and spectral detection of alteration minerals.
The name derives from the Latin epithet meaning "of Noah" and was formalized in planetary nomenclature by the International Astronomical Union during efforts to standardize names for Martian regions first cataloged in early telescopic maps by astronomers like Giovanni Schiaparelli and Percival Lowell. The designation aligns with classical albedo feature naming conventions used in works by E. M. Antoniadi and later adopted by cartographers at United States Geological Survey for quadrangle mapping.
Noachis occupies part of the southern hemisphere of Mars within the Noachis quadrangle and borders prominent provinces including Hellas Planitia to the east and Terra Sirenum to the west. It lies south of the equator and intersects global coordinate grids used by United States Geological Survey planetary cartography and Horizon 2020-era mapping projects. The region's topographic relationships to features such as Arsia Mons and the Valles Marineris system are important for regional context in planetary geology and stratigraphy.
Characterized by some of the oldest surfaces on Mars, Noachis preserves Noachian-aged crust identified using crater retention chronology refined against lunar calibration studies by teams at Brown University and California Institute of Technology. Its lithology includes materials mapped by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer team and examined by mineralogists at Brown University and University of Arizona using data from Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Studies referencing impact melt sheets, breccia deposits, and reworked ejecta employ comparative analyses used in terrestrial impact studies at Smithsonian Institution and Imperial College London.
Surface morphology includes densely spaced impact craters, degraded rim structures, intercrater plains, and ancient valley networks interpreted by researchers at Lunar and Planetary Institute and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Noachis hosts layered sedimentary outcrops studied with spectral techniques developed by teams at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Caltech. Distinct landforms such as possible glacial lobes, mass-wasting deposits, and remnant ejecta blankets have been compared with terrestrial analogues in studies by University of Oxford and University of Copenhagen for processes including periglacial activity and slope erosion.
Noachis records climatic signals from the Noachian epoch inferred from alteration minerals and valley network morphology examined by researchers at Brown University, University of Arizona, and Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Evidence for phyllosilicates, sulfates, and oxides detected by teams associated with European Space Agency and NASA suggests episodic aqueous alteration linked to early Martian hydrology studies conducted at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech. Atmospheric interactions involving dust transport, observed by Mars Climate Orbiter teams and modeled at Pennsylvania State University, contribute to present-day surface weathering and sand redistribution.
Noachis featured in early telescopic albedo maps produced by Giovanni Schiaparelli and later included in photographic mosaics from the Mariner 9 mission. The Viking program provided higher-resolution imaging and spectral data, followed by global datasets from Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Analytical work by scientists at institutions such as Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Ames Research Center, and European Space Agency laboratories has expanded knowledge of impact chronology, mineralogy, and geomorphology in the region.
Noachis is central to models of early Martian evolution due to its preservation of ancient surfaces used to calibrate the Noachian timescale by teams at Brown University, Lunar and Planetary Institute, and Caltech. Research findings include identification of hydrated minerals by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars team, revised crater-based age estimates from studies at Arizona State University, and comparative geomorphology linking Noachis erosion to climate reconstructions published by groups at Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and University of Oxford. Ongoing work by collaborations among NASA, ESA, and academic institutions continues to use Noachis to test hypotheses about early impact flux, transient aqueous environments, and the transition from Noachian to Hesperian planetary conditions.
Category:Mars regions