GEOG30790 Planetary Geomorphology

Academic Year 2021/2022

Our solar system is endowed with a fascinating family of planets and planetary bodies. Some are giant gas planets, like Jupiter, but most are smaller rocky or icy bodies. This group of smaller planets and satellites includes Earth. Intriguingly, the other bodies in this group share many geomorphological characteristics with Earth, pointing to many shared environmental processes: all have a history of planetary bombardment and cratering; some have atmospheres and show evidence of wind-sculpting, e.g.Venus, Mars and Titan; volcanism has been, or is currently, an important surface-producing agent on at least three, Venus, Mars and Jupiter’s satellite Io; Venus is the near-twin of Earth in size and has a dense atmosphere but its evolution has been very different from Earth’s, with crushing surface pressure, searing temperatures and aggressive atmospheric chemistry; several large satellites are shrouded in a mobile crust of ice overlying a global liquid ocean, e.g. Europa, Ganymede and Enceladus; the giant satellite Titan has a dense atmosphere that is chemically very similar to the Earth’s first atmosphere and it shows abundant evidence of a ‘hydrological’ cycle (although not involving water), including the presence of rivers and lakes; Mars, tantalizingly similar to Earth, is distinctly not an identical twin but it is relatively nearby and has been visited by many orbiters and landers that have shown it to be, or have been, very Earth-like at certain places and/or times or in specific process-domains. Given the close, but tantalizingly different, planetary evolution of Earth and Mars, the wealth of data available and the potential Mars offers for learning and research, including learning more about our planet, it will be the primary focus of this module, with an emphasis on the processes and landforms associated with water in all its phases (i.e. ice, liquid and vapour).

Currently, the best way to understand the geomorphology of another planet, and hence the environmental processes operating at the surface of that planet, is to find analogous landform assemblages here on Earth and to study as many of their genetic factors as possible. Many landforms and geomorphological assemblages on Mars are analogous to morphologies on Earth that formed in volcanic, aeolian, fluvial, lacustrine, marine, periglacial, glaciofluvial and glacial process environments. These include: volcanoes and lava; sand dunes and yardangs; rivers, gullies and river networks; lake basins and shorelines; extensive marine basins, seabeds and shorelines; rock glaciers and glaciers, patterned ground (polygons), sorted periglacial landforms, thermokarst and pingos. The discovery of these landforms on Mars, in high-resolution images of the surface, has led to the conclusion that volcanism, wind, liquid water and ice have collaborated to produce a very Earth-like planetary surface. However, the geomorphology of Mars is showing evidence of one or more recent major changes in Martian climate, possibly including brief periods when water recently became morphologically effective. The likely cause for such a change is orbitally-driven variability in the axial obliquity of Mars. The same process is a major factor behind the repeated cycles of glaciation experienced by Earth over the last 2 Ma. If this can be confirmed, it would have major implications for our understanding of climate and water on Mars and would tell us more about the processes of environmental change on Earth, including the feedbacks between climate forcing, global warming, cryospheric stability and the hydrological cycle. Many tailored field campaigns are active on Earth, with research agendas that are Mars-specific and targeted, for example, at parameterization of key morphologies as proxies for those key processes, i.e. climate change, cryospheric stability and the cycling of water from sources to sinks. Insights from these analogue studies should provide a better understanding of the relationships between landforms, surface materials (including chemistries) and the surface processes of both Mars and Earth. For that reason, this analogue approach to planetary geomorphology will be the focus of this module, both conceptually and methodologically.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

Students will be introduced to the major areas of research in planetary geomorphology, the datasets available and the methodologies of planetary geomorphology, all with a special focus on the geomorphology of Mars. From working in and studying for this module students should gain an understanding of the diversity of planetary geomorphology and planetary evolution in our solar system.

Indicative Module Content:

Module topics
Introduction
Key morphogenetic processes on the terrestrial planets and icy moons
Your exploration – Introduction to planetary remote sensing archives, data and tools including Google Earth (Mars), Arizona State University’s HiRISE (High resolution Imaging Science Experiment) and Jmars GIS (Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing), the ESA/FUB HRSCView (High Resolution Stereo Camera viewer), NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS))

The formation of terrestrial planets
Crustal genesis and evolution
Your Exploration - the NASA PDS, HiRISE Science Themes and Midnight Planets in more detail

Planetary volcanism
Lava and magmatic landforms and processes

Impact cratering
Crater forms and processes and insights to surface properties from crater morphology

Weathering, denudation and deposition processes (including in the vacuum)
Aeolian landforms and processes
Hydrological landforms and processes (including rivers, lakes and seas, channels and shorelines)
Cryotic (i.e. icy) processes (including ground-ice and glacigenic)

Geomorphology of the icy moons
Crustal formation and evolution, insights to the sub-crust from geomorphology, cryo- and hydrovolcanism

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

20

Small Group

0

Autonomous Student Learning

80

Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures; topic-based reading; active/task-based learning; critical writing; reflective learning; enquiry & problem-based learning; case-study based learning. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

Geog10080 Earth Systems
Geog20150 Quaternary Environmental Change
Geog20040 Fluvial Geomorphology
Geog20060 Climatology


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: A significant piece of original readings-based research into a topic in planetary geomorphology. Suggested maximum word count: 5000. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

60

Attendance: Attendance at lectures will be recorded by sign-in. Throughout the Trimester n/a Other No

10

Journal: Referred to as the "module exploration notebook" - an original record of the student's engagement with the module through reflection on module topics via thinking, questioning, reading and writing. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

30


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.