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Published Online November 30, 2005
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1122165

Research Articles

Submitted on November 2, 2005
Accepted on November 22, 2005

Radar Soundings of the Subsurface of Mars

Giovanni Picardi 1, Jeffrey J. Plaut 2*, Daniela Biccari 1, Ornella Bombaci 3, Diego Calabrese 3, Marco Cartacci 1, Andrea Cicchetti 1, Stephen M. Clifford 4, Peter Edenhofer 5, William M. Farrell 6, Costanzo Federico 7, Alessandro Frigeri 7, Donald A. Gurnett 8, Tor Hagfors 9, Essam Heggy 4, Alain Herique 10, Richard L. Huff 8, Anton B. Ivanov 2, William T. K. Johnson 2, Rolando L. Jordan 2, Donald L. Kirchner 8, Wlodek Kofman 10, Carlton J. Leuschen 11, Erling Nielsen 9, Roberto Orosei 12, Elena Pettinelli 13, Roger J. Phillips 14, Dirk Plettemeier 15, Ali Safaeinili 2, Roberto Seu 1, Ellen R. Stofan 16, Giuliano Vannaroni 17, Thomas R. Watters 18, Enrico Zampolini 3

1 Infocom Department, "La Sapienza" University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy.
2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
3 Alcatel Alenia Space Italia, 00131 Rome, Italy.
4 Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
5 Fakultaet fuer Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.
6 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
7 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universitá degli Studi di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy.
8 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
9 Max Planck Institute for Solar System Resarch, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany.
10 Laboratoire de Planetologie de Grenoble, 38041 Grenoble Cedex, France.
11 Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
12 Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, 00133 Rome, Italy.
13 Dipartimento di Fisica, University of Rome 3, 00146 Roma, Italy.
14 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
15 Fakultaet fuer Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik, Technische Universitaet Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
16 Proxemy Research, Laytonsville, MD 20882, USA.
17 Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, 00133 Rome, Italy.
18 Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Jeffrey J. Plaut , E-mail: plaut{at}jpl.nasa.gov

The Martian subsurface has been probed to kilometer depths by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument aboard the Mars Express orbiter. Signals penetrate the polar layered deposits, likely imaging the base of the deposits. Data in the northern lowlands of Chryse Planitia have revealed a shallow-buried, quasi-circular structure about 250 kilometers in diameter, that is interpreted to be an impact basin. In addition, a planar reflector associated with the basin structure may indicate the presence of a >1 kilometer thick, low-loss deposit.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mars North Polar Deposits: Stratigraphy, Age, and Geodynamical Response.
R. J. Phillips, M. T. Zuber, S. E. Smrekar, M. T. Mellon, J. W. Head, K. L. Tanaka, N. E. Putzig, S. M. Milkovich, B. A. Campbell, J. J. Plaut, et al. (2008)
Science 320, 1182-1185
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Planetary science: Multiple data sets, multiple scales, and unlocking the third dimension.
P. Martin and E. R. Stofan (2007)
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Radar Sounding of the Medusae Fossae Formation Mars: Equatorial Ice or Dry, Low-Density Deposits?.
T. R. Watters, B. Campbell, L. Carter, C. J. Leuschen, J. J. Plaut, G. Picardi, R. Orosei, A. Safaeinili, S. M. Clifford, W. M. Farrell, et al. (2007)
Science 318, 1125-1128
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Accumulation and Erosion of Mars' South Polar Layered Deposits.
R. Seu, R. J. Phillips, G. Alberti, D. Biccari, F. Bonaventura, M. Bortone, D. Calabrese, B. A. Campbell, M. Cartacci, L. M. Carter, et al. (2007)
Science 317, 1715-1718
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Subsurface Radar Sounding of the South Polar Layered Deposits of Mars.
J. J. Plaut, G. Picardi, A. Safaeinili, A. B. Ivanov, S. M. Milkovich, A. Cicchetti, W. Kofman, J. Mouginot, W. M. Farrell, R. J. Phillips, et al. (2007)
Science 316, 92-95
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)