By Cathy Hornback, Community Volunteer Support Coordinator Geocaching.com
Did you know that Mars has evidence of geological features like volcanoes, flowing water, avalanches, glaciers, and sediments just as we have on Earth? It does! In fact, there are many types of geological features that exist on both planets.
With the Perseverance Rover more than halfway to Mars equipped with a tracking code trackable on Geocaching.com, Geocaching HQ and the Geological Society of America are excited to give geocachers the opportunity to view and learn about geological features on Earth that also exist on Mars. Therefore, we are introducing a new series of EarthCaches: Planetary Geology on Earth.
We invite the geocaching community to create new EarthCaches or modify existing EarthCaches to be part of this series. All of the EarthCaches in the series will have the naming convention “Planetary Geology on Earth: __________.” Additional details and some resources are in the Help Center under Planetary Geology on Earth.
For inspiration, take a look at this excellent example of Planetary Geology on Earth: Odessa or Mars? (GC4A4JW). What geological feature on Earth do you think would be a good addition to this series?
Below are just a few examples of EarthCaches highlighting features on Earth that also exist on Mars.
Massive canyons
Sand dunes
Sedimentary layers
Inverted topography
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Editor’s note: This contribution was originally posted on 8 December, 2020 on Geocaching.com’s blog and is reposted with permission. For more information about the Geological Society of America’s EarthCache program can be found here.
Speaking of Geoscience 