Spectral Properties of the Martian Crustal Magnetic Field

Although the planet Mars no longer possesses an internal dynamo, its crustal rocks retain strong remanent magnetization thought to have been induced by an ancient core-sourced field. The strength and distribution of the crustal field is extremely heterogeneous, and particularly strong in the Terra Cimmeria region of the southern hemisphere. The field as a whole is inconsistent with induction from a single dipolar source, although previous studies have attempted to isolate individual magnetic anomalies to deduce paleopolar orientations. While several areas of the planet appear to have been demagnetized, including large impact basins and the Tharsis volcanic province, the distribution of the field is generally poorly correlated with surface geologic structures. However, beyond the spatial pattern of crustal magnetization, the magnetic power spectrum can provide information about the nature of the source and formation processes. Previous studies have used the power spectrum of the Martian field to estimate the approximate depth of the magnetic anomalies. We extend this approach by applying the spatiospectral localization technique of Wieczorek and Simons (2005) and Dahlen and Simons (2008) to isolate the magnetic power spectra of several areas of the Martian surface. This method allows us to look beyond the strongly magnetized Terra Cimmeria region, which dominates the global power spectrum. Localized spectral estimates, along with their appropriate errors, allow us to examine the significance of observed variations between distinct regions of the planet, and to evaluate the validity of analyses which operate on the whole sphere. Significant differences are observed between spectra of the Terra Cimmeria region and the remainder of the planet, a result of the concentration of power at certain spherical harmonic degrees in this anomalous region. Approximate depths to the magnetic sources are calculated for tiled windows on the planet using the stochastic magnetized shell model of Voorhies et al. (2002). A wide range of values is observed for the resulting depth estimates, which are generally shallower than that estimated for the global power spectrum. Spatial variations in depth generally correlate well with global maps of crustal thickness. These findings have implications for the early formation and evolution of the martian crust.