Many people have probably looked up to the stars, and asked themselves if they
are alone. Would it be possible that the universe and its planetary systems are much the
same? Let's take a look at one of our neighbors, Mars, and compare a few similarities with
Earth. Mars is much smaller than the Earth, and has no oceans, trees or other visible
forms of life on the surface. However, Mars does have several similarities with our own
planet. Three ways Mars and Earth are alike are that they both have continents, craters,
First of all, Earth and Mars both have continents. Continents are made of material
that is less dense than the rest of the terrestrial crust, which makes them lie higher than the
ocean floor. There are seven continents on Earth. The Earth's continents (from largest to
smallest) are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and
Australia. There are the two regions on Mars which seem elevated above the rest of the
crust. The first is a large elevated region in the lower half of the planet known as the
Highlands. The other feature is known as the Tharsis Ridge or Bulge. It is the size of a
small continent on Earth, or perhaps a large, volcanic island. These two features may be
thought of as the continents of Mars. I find the similarities of Mars and Earth both having
continents intriguing, but another point of interest is that they both have craters.
Two-thirds of the surface of the Earth is covered with water. The rest of the land
surface is lightly cratered. On Earth, craters are erased from the surface by the action of
wind and water erosion, as the surface gradually changes with time. Although there are no
oceans on Mars, almost the entire surface is cratered to various degrees. The Tharsis
Ridge, where the volcanoes of Mars are located, is lightly cratered. The lowlands of Mars
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