The debate on whether water exists on Mars has been resolved by recent data from the Mars Phoenix Polar Lander. The lander found water ice just below the surface in the high northern latitudes of Mars. The questions to be answered now are: how much water was present in the past, how much water is currently present, what was the state the water in the past, and what is the current state of water on Mars. The morphology and spatial relationships are examined between three different landforms (pitted cones, giant polygons, and putative shorelines) considered to be the result of water-related processes. At two locations, Utopia Planitia and Cydonia Mensae, these three features exhibit the same topographic relationship. Non-water-related features adjacent to or nearby the landforms, such as the Dichotomy Boundary, multi-ringed basins, and locations of recent methane release, are examined for possible relationships to the formation of these 3 landforms. My results support previous work that indicates a large water body existed in the northern lowlands of Mars at some time in the past. In addition large amounts of sediment must have been shed from the highlands to the lowlands during this period to support the mud volcanism and giant polygon formation. Evidence also exists that mud volcanism was a common phenomenon during, and possibly after, the existence of the water body.

<p> A detailed structural map of the central uplift of Martin Crater in western Thaumasia Planum, Mars, reveals highly folded and fractured geology throughout the 15-km diameter uplift. The stratigraphy in the central uplift of the crater has been rotated to near vertical dip and imaged by high-definition cameras aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). These unique factors allow individual geologic beds in Martin Crater to be studied and located across the length of the uplift. </p><p> Bedding in Martin Crater primarily strikes SSE-NNW and dips near vertically. Many units are separated by a highly complex series of linear faults, creating megablocks of uplifted material. Faulting is dominantly left-slip in surface expression and strikes SW-NE, roughly perpendicular to bedding, and major fold axes plunge toward the SW. Coupled with infrared imagery of the ejecta blanket, which shows an &ldquo;exclusion zone&rdquo; northeast of the crater, these structural indicators provide strong support for a low-angle impactor (approximately 10&ndash;20&deg;) originating from the northeast. </p><p> Acoustic fluidization is the prevailing theoretical model put forth to explain complex crater uplift. The theory predicts that uplifted megablocks in craters are small, discrete, separated and highly randomized in orientation. However, megablocks in Martin Crater are tightly interlocked and often continuous in lithology across several kilometers. Thus, the model of acoustic fluidization, as it is currently formulated, does not appear to be supported by the structural evidence found in Martin Crater.</p><p>