Mars without Tharsis

Abstract

The significant power in the Martian gravitational field due to the Tharsis rise may mask or modify gravitational signatures that contain important information on Martian geophysical processes. In order to isolate gravity signals in regions where the field is significantly affected by Tharsis as well to investigate characteristics of the global field, we present a numerical technique to “remove” Tharsis from the Martian gravitational field. Our analysis will show that to first order Tharsis can be represented as a sixth‐degree spherical harmonic zonal gravitational feature in a reference frame in which the axis of symmetry runs through the center of the province. We produced the “Mars without Tharsis” (MWT) field by subtracting the gravitational signature of Tharsis from the full field and rotating the spherical harmonics back to the original coordinate system, in which the z‐axis is coincident with the planetary rotation axis. Our study yields limits on the moment of inertia factor of 0.361<C/MR2<0.366 for the range of allowable non‐hydrostatic contributions to the flattening. The analysis indicates that the formation of Tharsis may have resulted in re‐orientation of the spin axis, though if the planet retained rotational fossil bulge due to a thick elastic lithosphere then changes in the global figure could have been inhibited. The zonal and tesseral components of the degree 2 field in the GMM‐I and rotated configurations indicates that Tharsis is ∼5 times more axisymmetric about its “pole” than Mars as a whole is about the rotation axis. With the removal of Tharsis' long wavelength gravitational power, regional structures become better defined in a spatial sense while maintaining their local dynamic range. The Olympus Mons volcanic shield displays clear evidence of a gravitational flexural moat. Our method for removing Tharsis may also be applied to analyze other global‐scale geophysical features that may be considered axisymmetric to first order, such as mantle plumes, major volcanic constructs, or large impact basins.