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Northeast Syrtis

Northeast Syrtis is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Northeast Syrtis rather than just read about it. In short: Northeast Syrtis is a region of Mars once considered by NASA as a landing site for the Mars 2020 rover mission. This landing site failed in the competition with Jezero crater, another landing site dozens of kilometers away from Northeast Syrtis.

Northeast Syrtis — main illustration
Northeast Syrtis — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Northeast Syrtis belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Northeast Syrtis to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Northeast Syrtis from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Northeast Syrtis is a region of Mars once considered by NASA as a landing site for the Mars 2020 rover mission. This landing site failed in the competition with Jezero crater, another landing site dozens of kilometers away from Northeast Syrtis. It is located in the northern hemisphere of Mars at coordinates 18°N,77°E in the northeastern part of the Syrtis Major volcanic province, within the ring structure of Isidis impact basin as well. This region contains diverse morphological features and minerals, indicating that water once flowed here. It may be an ancient habitable environment; microbes could have developed and thrived here. The layered terrain of Northeast Syrtis is unique on the surface of Mars, containing diverse aqueous minerals such as like clay, carbonate, serpentine and sulfate, as well as igneous minerals such as olivine and high-calcium and low-calcium pyroxene. Clay minerals form in the interaction between water and rock and sulfate minerals usually form through intense evaporation on Earth. Similar processes may happen on Mars forming these minerals, which strongly suggests a history of water and rock interaction. In addition, megabreccia, possibly the oldest material throughout this region (some blocks are over 100 m in diameter), could give an insight into the primary crust when Mars first formed. The location is an ideal site for studying the timing and evolution of the surface processes of Mars, such as huge impact basin formation, fluvial activity (valley networks, small outflow channels), groundwater activity, history of glaciation, and volcanic activity.

Regional stratigraphy

The regional stratigraphy of Northeast Syrtis has been studied in detail. This area is sandwiched between a huge shield volcano—Syrtis Major—and one of largest impact basins in the Solar System, and therefore could provide a key constraint of the timing of key events in the history of Mars. The stratigraphy can be divided into four major units, from young to old:

Syrtis Major lavas unit contains high-calcium pyroxene bearing material; Layered sulfate-bearing unit, include poly-hydrated sulfates and jarosite; Olivine unit, olivine-enriched unit variably altered to carbonate and serpentine; Basement unit: The mixture of iron/magnesium (Fe/Mg) smectite and low-calcium pyroxene-bearing unit variably altered to Aluminium-clay bearing materials. The basement unit is one of newest units on Mars, recording early-stage evolution history of terrestrial planets. The change from carbonate to sulfate indicates a transition from alkaline-neutral to acid aqueous environments.

Mars 2020 mission The Mars 2020 rover launched in July 2020 with Atlas V rocket to reach Mars in February 2021. This rover inherits from the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity, with similar entry, descent, and landing systems, and the sky crane. Besides exploring a likely habitable site and searching for signs of past life, collecting scientifically compelling samples (rock and regolith) which could address fundamental scientific questions if returned to Earth, is the main goal of the Mars 2020 mission. The landing site's selection is the key part of this mission's success. Although Northeast Syrtis survived the cut in third Mars 2020 Landing Site Workshops, it failed final completion. The landing ellipse of Northeast Syrtis is 16 x 14 km and the smaller ellipse is 13.3 × 7.8 km with the help of advanced technologyTerrain-Relative Navigation (TRN).

Region of interest

Mesa unit

The mesa is one of the interesting locations. It consists of five subunits: crater-retaining cap, boulder-shedding slopes exposing lightened blocks, olivine-carbonate unit, Fe/Mg-phyllosilicate, allowing easy to access diverse rocks. On the top of the mesa is a dark toned cap unit, composed of meter-scale boulders. It was interpreted as Hesperian Syrtis Major lava flows or lithified ash. These igneous rocks are suitable samples for acquiring the age of Martian geologic events, which could calibrate the planet dating method. Unlike Earth, planet dating mainly relies on crater counting, a method based on the assumption that the number of impact craters on a planet surface increases with the length of time that the surface has been exposed to space cratering, calibrated using the ages obtained by radiometric dating of samples of Luna and Apollo missions. The samples of this mission returned to Earth will be analyzed by state of the art equipment in laboratories. Igneous samples from Northeast Syrtis could provide four key time for Martian geology history, including (1) the timing of Isidis impact event, (2) the timing of emplacement of olivine-rich unit, (3) the timing of dark-toned mafic cap rock, (4) the timing of Syrtis lava flows, which would fundamentally improve human knowledge of early Mars and the early history of solar system, such as the late-heavy bombardment. This region exposes the largest high-olivine abundance rocks on Mars. The origin of high-olivine rock is still in debate. Impact cumulates or olivine-rich lava are two leading hypotheses. A portion of olivine rock was altered to carbonate. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of carbonate, including a serpentine springs system. Carbonate is important sink of carbon, and is a crucial part of understanding the carbon cycle of Mars. Future sample return could shed light on the environmental conditions of carbonate. As well, the isotopic composition of carbonate through time, records the atmosphere loss, and it also reveals whether life once emerged on Mars. The lower part of mesa unit is the basement unit of the Northeast Syrtis region, consisting of Fe/Mg smectites and low calcium pyroxene. The basement unit was partially altered to form kaolinite. The kaolinite (Al-clay) usually overlying the Fe/Mg smectites across the Martian surface. Weathering in a warm climate or acid leaching are two domain interpretations of kaolinite formation.

Megabreccia

Megabreccia occurs throughout the basement unit of Northeast Syrtis. The composition of these megabreccias is complex, including altered or mafic material. These megabreccias may be uplifted and exposed by the Isidis Basin forming event. The megabreccia could reveal the nature of the remnant of Mars's primary crust or the Noachian-aged low-calcium pyroxene lavas. It also could constrain the timing of Martian dynamo activity.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Northeast Syrtis: The yellow rectangle indicates the location of Northeast Syrtis Major. Syrtis Major is one of the largest volcanic provinces on Mars. The west part is the ancient and huge impact basin—Isidis, about 1500 km in diameter.
The yellow rectangle indicates the location of Northeast Syrtis Major. Syrtis Major is one of the largest volcanic provinces on Mars. The west part is the ancient and huge impact basin—Isidis, about 1500 km in diameter.
Northeast Syrtis: The stratigraphic column of Northeast Syrtis. The thickness of each unit is hard to estimate. after [11]
The stratigraphic column of Northeast Syrtis. The thickness of each unit is hard to estimate. after [11]
Northeast Syrtis: Landing ellipse of NE Syrtis, Mars. The blue oval is Northeast Syrtis landing ellipse. The white oval is the smaller anding ellipse with Terrain-Relative Navigation technique. The yellow oval is another potential landing site, Jezero landing ellipse. The context image is CTX (Context Camera) onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Landing ellipse of NE Syrtis, Mars. The blue oval is Northeast Syrtis landing ellipse. The white oval is the smaller anding ellipse with Terrain-Relative Navigation technique. The yellow oval is another potential landing site, Jezero landing ellipse. The context image is CTX (Context Camera) onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Northeast Syrtis: Mesa unit in Northeast Syrtis, Mars.
Mesa unit in Northeast Syrtis, Mars.
Northeast Syrtis: Megabreccia in Northeast Syrtis.
Megabreccia in Northeast Syrtis.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Northeast Syrtis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Northeast Syrtis claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Northeast Syrtis before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Northeast Syrtis ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Northeast Syrtis

In research
Northeast Syrtis appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Northeast Syrtis in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Northeast Syrtis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mars 2020, Syrtis Major quadrangle, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Northeast Syrtis outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Northeast Syrtis in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Northeast Syrtis means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Northeast Syrtis out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Northeast Syrtis in simple terms?

Northeast Syrtis is a region of Mars once considered by NASA as a landing site for the Mars 2020 rover mission. This landing site failed in the competition with Jezero crater, another landing site dozens of kilometers away from Northeast Syrtis.

Why does Northeast Syrtis matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Northeast Syrtis?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Northeast Syrtis.

Tags

  • Mars 2020
  • Syrtis Major quadrangle

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