The Catalog of Planetary Maps.
Sources: The research that led to this catalog was supported by Fulbright Hungary Grant No. 1222202, awarded to H. Hargitai for research at USGS Astrogeology, Flagstaff, Arizona (advisor: Trent Hare), and by the ICA Commission on Planetary Cartography (advisor: Kira Shingareva). Most of the data is based on the inventory of the map library of USGS Astrogeology.
Copyright and Use Notice: Published U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Air Force maps are generally in the public domain. Some maps reproduced or displayed on this site may be protected by copyright.
This website includes thumbnail images or excerpts of maps for identification, documentation, research, and educational purposes only. These uses are believed to qualify as fair use under U.S. copyright law. Full-resolution copyrighted maps are not hosted unless explicit permission has been obtained or the material is confirmed to be in the public domain.
The inclusion of any map or photograph in this catalog does not imply that it is free of copyright restrictions. Responsibility for determining copyright status and obtaining necessary permissions rests entirely with the user.
If you are a copyright holder and believe material on this site is used inappropriately, please contact the curator (hargitai.henrik@btk.elte.hu) with details so we can review and address your concerns promptly.
Photos: Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs are by H. Hargitai. Several photographs are from the USGS Astrogeology Map Library and Lowell Observatory, both in Flagstaff, Arizona. Several photographs of Soviet maps were taken at MIIGAiK, Moscow.
Contact: The catalog is curated by H. Hargitai, ELTE, Budapest, hargitai.henrik@btk.elte.hu.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Mars Chart
Scale 1: 25 000 000
Mars — map
1:25M
US Army Topographic Command, Washington, D.C.
Advisors: Merton E Davies, JC Robinson, Bradford A Smith and the Mariner 6 and 7 Television Experiment Team.
Nomenclature: 1958 IAU
1970
Note the handwritten notes of the Tharsis Montes.
The map was drawn by pencil and charcoal, by Charles Cross (Morton 2002:50)
Morton O 2002 Mapping Mars. Picador, New York.
Map provided courtesy of the USGS Flagstaff Library.
Prepared under the direction of the Department of Defense and published by the U. S. Army Topographic Command, Washington, D. C., with the advisory assistance of Merton E. Davies, J. C. Robinson, and Bradford A. Smith of the Mariner 6 and 7 Television Experiment Team.
ORIENTATION
The orientation of cardinal directions is in accordance with the resolution adopted at the 1961 Congress of the International Astronomical Union. North is at the top of the Mercator projection chart, east is at the right. Areographic longitudes increase from 0° to 360° westward on the planet’s surface.
NOMENCLATURE
Names of surface features are in accordance with the standard list of Martian names prepared by Subcommission 16 of the International Astronomical Union and adopted at the 1958 IAU Congress. A few additional feature names in common use, which are not included in the IAU list, are shown enclosed in parentheses.
CONTROL
Features of this map were positioned by a new areodetic control net derived from the Mariner 6 and 7 pictures. This net was established by the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center, St. Louis, Missouri and the Television Experimenters. This control consists of the coordinates of approximately 110 surface features and photograph coordinates of intersections of parallels and meridians at 5° intervals. The control derived from Mariner 6 near-encounter photography was designated as the basic control net and all other control has been tied to this net to produce a unified control system.
SOURCES
This map was produced from Mariner 6 and 7 photography provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The following photograph frames were used to control the compilation: far-encounter frames 6F39–49; 7F62–67, 69–77, 80–83, 85–88, 93; and near-encounter (close-up) wide angle frames 6N1–25, 7N1–31 (odd-numbered frames only). Additional photographs were used in the compilation to aid in the interpretation and portrayal of features. The coverage diagram at right shows photographic coverage by area.
TERRAIN FEATURES
The photographs from Mariners 6 and 7 confirm the finding of Mariner 4 that the surface of Mars is heavily cratered. However, in addition to this cratered terrain, two new distinctive types of terrain are visible in the Mariner 6 and 7 pictures. These have been characterized as “chaotic” terrain and “featureless” terrain (Leighton, R. B. et al., Science, October 3, 1969). Craters are of two general types: large, flat-bottomed craters and small, bowl-shaped craters. The flat-bottomed craters range in diameter from several to a few hundred kilometers, while the bowl-shaped ones are generally somewhat smaller. Cratered terrain occurs fairly generally throughout the southern hemisphere, and appears to be fairly widespread in the northern hemisphere.
Chaotic terrain, visible on portions of frames 6N6, 6N8, and 6N14, consists of a very irregular network of short ridges and depressions, generally 1 to 3 km wide and 2 to 10 km long. Very few clearly defined craters can be seen in these areas.
The area of featureless terrain revealed by the Mariner pictures is in the circular desert Hellas. No craters or other surface features can be distinguished down to the limit of resolution of the photographs, about 300 meters. Apparently some process has been operative in this region which obliterates or obscures craters and other features on a short geological time scale, or an unusual material is localized here.