Mars is a cold desert planet with a thin, dry carbon-dioxide atmosphere.
The geology of Mars, however, shows signs of an active past, with
hot-spot volcanism, and tantalizing signs of ancient water flows. While
a cold, dead desert planet today, Mars' past may have been warmer and
wetter, with liquid water during the first third of its history. This
lecture reviews the properties of Mars, and describes the evidence for
its active past. Recorded 2007 Nov 9 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the
Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.