Gravity constraints for True Polar Wander on Mars

Details Gravity constraints for True Polar Wander on Mars Gravity constraints for True Polar Wander on Mars

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p22a..08m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P22A-08

Other

[5417] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Gravitational Fields, [5450] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Orbital And Rotational Dynamics, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars

Scientific paper

The gravitational field of planetary bodies is commonly partitioned into hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic contributions (non-hydrostatic theory). However, this partitioning is not appropriate for planets like Mars with long-term elastic strength. Although Bills and James (1999) noted that the present Martian rotation pole would be unstable if the non-hydrostatic theory is adopted, previous studies used this theory to constrain true polar wander on Mars. We illustrate that the inferred paleopole position in these studies implies that the present rotation pole is unstable. Daradich et al. (2008) showed that the current rotation pole is stable, as expected, with a new theory that incorporates a partitioning into equilibrium and non-equilibrium contributions (non-equilibrium theory). They constrained the true polar wander on Mars driven by the formation of Tharsis using the non-equilibrium theory. We extend their analysis in several ways. First, Daradich et al. (2008) used the present location of Tharsis’ center location estimated in previous studies that adopt the non-hydrostatic theory. We estimate it using a semi-analytic procedure that is self-consistent with the non-equilibrium theory. This procedure can be used to remove Tharsis’ contribution from the observed gravity field. Second, Daradich et al. (2008) use the C20 and C22 gravity coefficients, and we extend their analysis to include the C21, S21, and S22 coefficients as additional constraints. Third, we take into account the effect of other surface loads with known locations (Elysium, Utopia, and Hellas). Finally, we quantify the size of the excess contributions required to explain the observed gravity field.

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