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Science 28 May 1999:
Vol. 284. no. 5419, pp. 1495 - 1503
DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5419.1495
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Research Articles

The Global Topography of Mars and Implications for Surface Evolution

David E. Smith, 1* Maria T. Zuber, 12 Sean C. Solomon, 3 Roger J. Phillips, 4 James W. Head, 5 James B. Garvin, 1 W. Bruce Banerdt, 6 Duane O. Muhleman, 7 Gordon H. Pettengill, 2 Gregory A. Neumann, 12 Frank G. Lemoine, 1 James B. Abshire, 1 Oded Aharonson, 2 C. David , Brown, 4 Steven A. Hauck, 4 Anton B. Ivanov, 7 Patrick J. McGovern, 3 H. Jay Zwally, 1 Thomas C. Duxbury 6

Elevations measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter have yielded a high-accuracy global map of the topography of Mars. Dominant features include the low northern hemisphere, the Tharsis province, and the Hellas impact basin. The northern hemisphere depression is primarily a long-wavelength effect that has been shaped by an internal mechanism. The topography of Tharsis consists of two broad rises. Material excavated from Hellas contributes to the high elevation of the southern hemisphere and to the scarp along the hemispheric boundary. The present topography has three major drainage centers, with the northern lowlands being the largest. The two polar cap volumes yield an upper limit of the present surface water inventory of 3.2 to 4.7 million cubic kilometers.

1 Earth Sciences Directorate, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
2 Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
3 Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
4 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
5 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
6 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
7 Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dsmith{at}tharsis.gsfc.nasa.gov

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