The global views presented here in Figures 3.1 to 3.14 convey properties of the surface (albedo, elevation, dust cover, relative abundance of various minerals), near-surface region (ice, thermal inertia), and interior (local gravity, crustal thickness, magnetic field). The maps are in simple cylindrical projection, using planetocentric coordinates where possible. Some datasets are only available in other views and are reproduced as they were made available.

The Tharsis quadrangle spans the northern half of the highest region on the surface of Mars. High plains cover most of the map region, interrupted by immense shield volcanoes as well as grooved, ridged, and hummocky terrains. To the northwest, Olympus Mons constitutes the largest volcano in the solar system (Figure 9.A). Standing some 22 km above the immediately surrounding terrain, Olympus Mons towers two-and-a-half times as high as Mount Everest (8.8 km above sea level on Earth), while its volume is more than 50 times greater than Mauna Loa, the most massive volcano on Earth (Bargar and Jackson, 1974; Plescia, 2004; Carr, 2006; see Table 5.2). Furthermore, Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons are two of the three Tharsis Montes – giant shield volcanoes that form a northeast-trending chain; also on this trend are Ceraunius Tholus, Uranius Tholus, and Uranius Mons (Scott and Tanaka, 1986; Plescia, 2004). Other substantial volcanoes in the quadrangle include Biblis, Ulysses, Tharsis, and Jovis Tholi. Large, lobate, ridged aprons surround parts of Olympus, Pavonis, and Ascraeus Montes. Local swells expose systems of linear troughs, cracks, and pit chains. Where undeformed, the quadrangle ranges from 6,000 m elevation near the volcanoes to 1,000 m above datum and is surfaced by lobate lava-flow forms, except for a patch of hummocky deposits in the southwestern corner of the quadrangle. A lower plain surrounds the base of Olympus Mons, as described below.

Mars has attracted study ever since its motions were first apparent to ancient skywatchers. Summaries of early observations and ideas are listed in, e.g., Collins, 1971; Hartmann and Raper, 1974; Moore, 1977; Kieffer et al., 1992a; Martin et al., 1992; Sheehan, 1996; Morton, 2002. Hubbard (2011) gives an interesting example of the planning of Mars missions.

A mountain range, which has been informally referred to as the Thaumasia highlands, is prominent in the north-central part of the quadrangle; it lies at elevations of 4–7 km above datum, and forms the southern margin of the Thaumasia plateau (informal name; see Figure 4.2). Cratered highlands of Aonia Terra, interspersed with younger plains and basins, ranging from near datum to 4 km elevation, such as Icaria Planum and Aonia Planum, make up the rest of the area. The outer rim of the Argyre basin is just visible along the eastern edge of the quadrangle.

The Arabia quadrangle has both highland materials of Terra Sabaea and transition materials of Arabia Terra, including a portion of Meridiani Planum. Craters dominate the landscape, with Arago, Capen, Cassini, Gill, Henry, Janssen, Pasteur, Teisserenc de Bort, Tikhonravov, and Tuscaloosa. The longest valleys are Naktong, Scamander, and Indus Valles. The topography slopes from 1 km above datum in the southeast down to 2 km below datum in the northwest. Across this transition, the southeastern, topographically irregular, densely cratered Terra Sabaea gives way to the moderately impacted, but smoother, intercrater plains of Arabia Terra. Degraded domical mounds are present in several craters, most notably Henry, but are not present in all the craters along the boundary between the higher-standing Terra Sabaea and Arabia Terra.

The Oxia Palus quadrangle is dominated in the east by the mid-elevation Arabia Terra (1,500–3,500 m below datum), with ancient cratered terrain transitioning from the southern highlands down to the northern plains. Arabia Terra includes a portion of Meridiani Planum, north of the Mars Exploration Rover-B (Opportunity) landing site (MC-19). Mawrth Vallis is the only large valley coming from this portion of Arabia Terra that has a mouth opening directly into the northern plains across the dichotomy boundary. The western half of the quadrangle includes portions of Margaritifer Terra and Xanthe Terra highland terrains, which are dissected by enormous outflow channels. These formed by catastrophic floods that left behind grooved channels, streamlined islands, chaotic terrain, braided-channel patterns, and the southern margin of the smooth northern plains deposits. From east to west, Ares, Tiu, Simud, and Shalbatana Valles carve curvilinear paths through the highland terrain until merging at the southern margins of Chryse Planitia. Chryse, at 3,000–4,000 m below datum, dominates the northwest portion of the quadrangle and lies within an ~1,600-km-diameter, ancient, largely degraded, and buried impact basin. The Mars Pathfinder landing site, which included the first rover (named Sojourner) to navigate on Mars, is located in Tiu Valles near the edge of the Ares Vallis deposits.

Hellas basin occupies the northwestern part of the quadrangle and makes up the deepest depression on Mars and the largest, well-preserved impact structure, at ~2,300 km inner diameter. The basin floor, Hellas Planitia, is largely a hummocky plain, marked by a network of wrinkle ridges and patches of knobby and troughed terrains, including Hellas Chaos. The lowest elevation on the planet (–8,200 m) occurs within the 33-km-diameter Badwater crater in the northwest corner of the quadrangle in Hellas Planitia. The basin rim is partly dominated by plains and low shield structures to the south (Malea Planum and Amphitrites Patera) and northeast (the southern edge of Hesperia Planum in MC-22, and Hadriacus Mons). The plains lie at 0–3 km elevation. Slopes north of Malea Planum are furrowed by dense, shallow valley systems (including Axius and Mad Valles), whereas the northeastern slope is deeply dissected by Dao, Niger, Harmakhis, and Reull Valles. Except for Reull, these valleys have sinuous, trough-like rille forms, which narrow in the downstream direction. The Promethei Terra highlands, east of Hellas basin rim, are characterized by particularly rugged terrain, including high-standing massifs and deep crater forms.

The Casius quadrangle contains a bit of ancient cratered highlands of Terra Sabaea in the southwest corner but is mostly dominated by the pervasively flat, and more youthful, northern lowlands of Utopia Planitia. The east half of the quadrangle is below –4,000 m, while the highlands are close to the 0 m datum. The highland–lowland transition is represented in the Casius quadrangle by broken plateaus and knobs, including the Colles Nili and Nilosyrtis Mensae, which are surrounded by undulating terrain of intermediate roughness. The northern lowlands are extremely smooth at regional scales but are marked locally by various types of topographic scarps, ridges, troughs, mounds and depressions, including Utopia, Cydnus, and Hephaestus Rupēs, Adamas Labyrinthus, and Astapus Colles.

The Mare Acidalium quadrangle is dominated by the gently northward-dipping lowland plain of Acidalia Planitia and its contiguous southern neighbor, Chryse Planitia, both lying between 4,000 and 5,000 m below datum. These plains are partly bordered by cratered highlands that rise as much as 3,000 m above the plains – Arabia Terra to the southeast and Tempe Terra to the southwest. The outer margins of these terrae define the mouths of the largest fluvial-type channels anywhere on Mars – the circum-Chryse outflow channels (named for Chryse Planitia, into which the channels collectively emerge, see also MC-10 and MC-11). The regional planitiae contain the generally north–south trending ridge systems of Xanthe Dorsa. Acidalia Mensa is located in the center of the quadrangle and forms an irregularly shaped plateau that rises from 100 to >500 m above the surrounding plains.