THE PLANET MARS IN COMPARISON TO EARTH, ESPECIALLY TECTONICALLY

There is considerable similarity between the planet Mars and planet Earth. Both were formed about 4 billionyears ago out of the solar nebula that gave rise to the sun and planets. Mars, however, is much smaller than Earth, itsmagnetic protection has been degraded, and accordingly also its atmosphere. The water on Mars, which once evenaccumulated sufficiently to form oceans, has largely evaporated and disappeared. The crust and lithosphere of Mars areof a unique configuration called a hemispheric dichotomy, which means that the crust is significantly thicker in thesouthern hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere.