Amazonian

Amazonian may refer to:

See also

Amazonian (Mars)

The Amazonian is a geologic system and time period on the planet Mars characterized by low rates of meteorite and asteroid impacts and by cold, hyperarid conditions broadly similar to those on Mars today. The transition from the preceding Hesperian period is somewhat poorly defined. The Amazonian is thought to have begun around 3 billion years ago, although error bars on this date are extremely large (~500 million years). The period is sometimes subdivided into the Early, Middle, and Late Amazonian. The Amazonian continues to the present day.

Description and name origin

The Amazonian System and Period is named after Amazonis Planitia, which has a sparse crater density over a wide area. Such densities are representative of many Amazonian-aged surfaces. The type area of the Amazonian System is in the Amazonis quadrangle (MC-8) around 15°N 158°W / 15°N 158°W / 15; -158.

Amazonian chronology and stratigraphy

Because it is the youngest of the Martian periods, the chronology of the Amazonian is comparatively well understood through traditional geological laws of superposition coupled to the relative dating technique of crater counting. The scarcity of craters characteristic of the Amazonian also means that unlike the older periods, fine scale (<100 m) surface features are preserved. This enables detailed, process-orientated study of many Amazonian-age surface features of Mars as the necessary details of form of the surface are still visible.