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Mars Pathfinder Landing Site Workshop Ii: Characteristics of the Ares Vallis Region and Field Trips in the Channeled Scabland, Washington

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Mars Pathfinder Landing Site Workshop Ii: Characteristics of the Ares Vallis Region and Field Trips in the Channeled Scabland, Washington MARS PATHFINDER LANDING SITE WORKSHOP II: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARES VALLIS REGION AND FIELD TRIPS IN THE CHANNELED SCABLAND, WASHINGTON =-= LPI Technical Report Number 95-01, Part 1 o Lunar and Planetary Institute 3600 Bay Area Boulevard Houston TX 77058-1113 :;=-; .... LPIITR--95-01, Part 1 MARS PATHFI~ERLANDING SITE WORKSHOP n: CHARACTERISTICS OF TFKE ARES VALLTS REGION AND FIELD TRIPS IN THE CHPrNEJELED SCABLAND, WASHINGTON Edited by M. P. Golombek, K. S. Edgett, and J. W.Rice Jr. Held at Spokane, Washington September 2630,1995 Sponsored by Arizona State University Jet Propulsion Laboratwy Lunar and Planemy Institute National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lunar and Planetary Institute 3600 Bay Area Boulevard Houston TX 77058- 11 13 LP1 Technical Report Number 95-01, Part 1 LPVTR--95-01 , Part 1 Compiled in 1995 by LUNAR ANDPrnkRYINSrn me Institute is operated by the University Space Research Association under Contract No. NASW-4574with the National Aeronautics and Space Adminismtion. Material in this volume may be copied without restraint for library, absmt mice, education, or perronal research purposes; however, republication of any paper orpwtion thereof requks the written permission of the authors as well as the appropriate acknowledgment of this publication. This report may be cited as GolornbekM. P..?Zdgett K. S., and Rice J. W.Jr., eds.(1 992)hfarsPothfind~rLandingSite WorhhopII: CChamcteri~tics of the Ares Vallis Region end Field Trips ro rkt! Channeled Scabland. Washington. LPI Tech. Rpt. 95-0 1, Part I. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston. 63 pp. This report is distributed by ORDER DEPARrn Lunar and Planetary Institute 3mBay Area Boulevrud Houston TX 77058-2 1 13 Mail order requestors will be invoiced for the cost of shipping and handling. Cover: Regional mosaic showing the Man Pathfinder landing site (ZOO km x 200 krn landing ellipse shown). The mosaic shows large catastrophic outflow channels debouching into Chryse Planitia Ares Vallis flowed to the northwest (from the southeast) across the landing site. Tiu Valles is just to the west of AmVaIlis and may also have flowed across the landing area. The landing site Itself is a very smooth depositional surface, where the flood waters deposited the sediments carved from the channels. Landing at this location should allow analysis of a wide variety ofmk types deposited by theflood.~esecatas.trophicoutflow channeIs on Mars are much larger analogs to the Channeld Scabland in Washington state. LPI Technical Report 95-01,Port I iii Preface This volume contains papers that have been accepted for presentation at the h4m Pathfinder Landing Site Workshop TI: Characteristics of the Ares Vallis Region, September 24-30,1995, in Spokane, Washington. Also included in this volume is the field trip guide to the Channeled Scabland and Missoula Lake Breakout. The organizer for this workshop was Matthew Golomkk from Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The field trip organizers were Kenneth Edgett and James Rice Jr. from Arizona State University. Logistics and administrative and publications support were provided by the Pub1 ications and Program Services Department staff at the Lunar and PIanetary Institute. LPI Technical Report 95-01, Port I v Contents Mission Description ........................... ...........................................................................................1 Abstracts Estimates of the Maximum and Minimum How Velocities of the Ciscum-Cwse Outflow Channels R. A. Craddock and K.L. Tanaka ................................................... ... ...................................9 Geologic Mapping Traverse of the Highland-to-Lowland Transition in an Area Adjacent to the Mars Pathfinder Region L. S. Crumpler ..............................................................................................................................10 After the Flood: A Preview of Eolian Features at the Mars Pathfinder Landing Site in Ares Vallis K. S. Edgetr ........................~~.~~~~~...................................................................................................12 Viking RTM Observations of the Anticipated Mars Pathfinder Landing Site at Ares Vallis K. 5. Edgets ..................................................................................................................................12 Size-Frequency Distributions of Rocks on Mars M.Golombek and D.Rapp ......................... ..... .........................................................................13 Characteristics of the Mars Pathfinder Landing Site M.P. Golombek, T. J. Parker, H. J. Moore, M. A. Side, R. F. Jurgens, and D. L. Mitchell ............. ...... .....................................................................................................15 Assessment of Pathfinder Landing Site with Goldstone Radar Ranging and Goldstone- VLA Dual-Polarization Tmaging A. F. C. Haldernann, D. 0.Muhleman, R. F. Jurgens, and M.A. Slade .................................. 16 Radar Scattering Characteristics of Ares Vallis and Environs from Areciba Observations J. K. Hamon and B. A. Campbell ......... ... ..................................................................... 17 Possibility of Highly Contrasting Rock Types at Martian High'iandlLowlandContact G. G. Kochemasov ................................. ..................................................................................18 Catastrophic Paleoflooding at the Pathfinder Landing Site: Ares Vallis, Mars G. Kmatsu and V. RR.Baker .............................. .. ....................................................................19 Mars Pathfinder. Geology of the Landing Site Ellipse R. 0.Kumin and R. Greeley ............................~..........~...............................................................20 Ground Ice at the Mars Pathfinder Landing Site M. T. Mellon .................................................................................................................................21 ri Mars Pathfinder Landfog Silt Worksh~pII What Will Pathfinder See and Do on Mars? H. J. Moore ........................... ................................................................................................22 Viking Stereo of the Ares Vallis Site: Sedimentological Implications T. d. Parker ....................... .....................................................................................................23 The Geologic Mapping of the Ares Vallis Region J. W.Rice Jr.............................................................................................................................. 24 Facies on Mars: A Model for the Chryse Basin Outflow Sediments Based on Analog Studies of Icelandic Sandar and the Ephrata Fan of the Channeled Scabland, Washington J. W.Rice Jr. and K. S. Edgett ................................................................................................. 24 A Sojourner's Prospectus: Provenance of Hood-transported Cllasts at the Mars Pathfinder Landing Site J. W.Rice Jr. and K. S. Edgeft .....................................................................................................25 Spatial Statistical Analysis of the Ares Vallis Region from Viking Orbiter and Worst-Case Scenario for Subpixel-Scale Roughness M. R Shepard, E. A. Guinness, and R. E. Amidson ....................................................................26 Dual-Polarization Continuous-Wave (CW)Observations from the Ares Vallis Site and Environs M. A. Slade, D. L. Mitchell, and R. F. Jurgens ........................................................................26 A Targeting Strategy for Ensuring a Hillside View at Ares Valles P. H. Smith ........................... ............,............................................................................................ 27 Sedimentary Stratigraphy of Chryse Planitia, Mars K. L. Tanaka ........................ .......... ... ...........................................................................28 Hardpan and Other Diagenetic "Rock" in the Catchment of Ares Vdlis and Surrounding Areas A. H. Treiman ..........................................................................................................................28 Field Guide Field Trips Accompanying the Mats Pathfinder Landing Site Workshop 11: Channeled Scabland and Lake Missoula Break-Out Areas in Washington and Idaho ......................3 1 LPi Technical Repon 95-01, Part I I Mission Description INTRODUCTION The Mars Pathfinder Project received a new start in Octo- ber 1993 as one of the next missions in NASA's long-term Mars exploration program. The mission involves landing a single vehicle on the surface ofMars in 1997. The project is one af the first Discovery-class missions and is required to be a quick, Iow-cost mission ($150M development cost cap, excluding launch vehicIe and mission ~perations,in less than a thm-year development period) and achieve a set of signifi- cant but focused engineering, science, and technology objec- tives. The primary objective is to demonstrate a low-cost cruise, entry, descent, and landing system required to place a payload on the martian surface in a safe, operational configu- ralion. Additional objectives include the deployment and opedon of various science instruments and a microrover (an additional $22M development). Pathfinder paves the way for a cost-effective implementation of future Mars lander missions. This section gives an overview of the Mars Pathfinder mission, with special reference to scientific aspects of the project. First, the
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