Image: Dr. Christian Klimczak, Associate Professor, has been awarded the UGA M.G. Michael Award. The primary purpose of the award is to encourage the development of a new and adventurous idea or project (https://www.franklin.uga.edu/m-g-michael-award). The award is given by the Franklin College to three recipients each year. Christian was intrigued by the recent detection of seismicity along tectonic structures on Mars. Along with the availability of improved global Mars photogeological datasets of unprecedent resolution he will survey the surface of Mars for tectonic structures and produce a global tectonic map. He intends to use datasets, which have 10 times higher resolution than those previously used, to produce a first global tectonic map of Mars. Because of the improved data, he anticipates to vastly increase the number of tectonic structures mapped. The increase in structure identification will allow quantitative assessments of global and regional tectonic patterns of Mars with unprecedented detail and consistency. Christian is committed to make the mapped data available to the scientific community and to facilitate cross-disciplinary research that improves our understanding of tectonic interactions with volcanism, impact cratering, fluvial activity, and other Martian surface processes. He is the first UGA Geology faculty member to receive this award in its 76-year history. Read More: M. G. Michael Award
