Workshop on the Martian Northern Plains, Sedimentological
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
WORKSHOP ON THE MARTIAN NORTHERN PLAINS: SEDIMENTOLOGICAL, PERIGLACIAL, AND PALEOCLIMATIC EVOLUTION Mars Surface and Atmosphere ThTOt4gh Time LPI Technical Report Number 93-04, Part 1 Lunar and Planetary Institute 3600 Bay Area Boulevard Houston TX 77058-1113 LPlrrR--93-04, Part 1 WORKSHOP ON THE MARTIAN NORTHERN PLAINS: SEDIMENTOLOGICAL, PERIGLACIAL, AND PALEOCLIMATIC EVOLUTION Edited by 1. S. Kargel. 1. Moore, and T. Parker Held in Fairbanks, Alaska August 12-14. 1993 Sponsored by MSATT Study Group Lunar and Planetary Institute University of Alaska Lunar and Planetary Institute 3600 Bay Area Boulevard Houston TX 77058-1113 LPI Technical Report Number 93-04, Part 1 LPIlTR--93-04, Part 1 Compiled in 1993 by LUNAR AJ'l'D PLANETARY INSTITUTE The Institute is operated by the University Space Research Association under Contract No. NASW-4574 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Material in this volume may be copied without restraint for library. abstract service. education. or personal research purposes; however. republication of any paperor portion thereof requires the written permission of the authors as well as the appropriate acknowledgment of this publication. This report may be cited as Kargel J. S. et al.. eds. (1993) Workshop 011 the Martian Northern Plains: Sedimelltological. Periglacial. and Paleoclimatic Emlurion. LPI Tech. Rpt. 93-04. Part I. Lunar and Planetary Institute. Houston. 23 pp. This report is distributed by ORDER DEPARTMENT Lunar and Planetary Institute 3600 Bay Area Boulevard Houston TX 77058-1 I 13 Mai I order requestors lI'ill be invoiced for the cost ofshipping and handling. LPI Technical Repurr93 -04, Parr I iii Preface This volume contains papers that have been accepted for presentation at the Workshop on the Martian Northern Plains: Sedimentological, Periglacial, and Paleoclimatic Evolution, August 12-14, 1993, in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Program Committee consisted of Jeffrey S. Kargel (USGS, Flagstajf), Jeffrey Moore (NASA Ames Research Center), and Timothy Parker (Jet PropUlsion Laboratory). Logistics and administrative and publications support were provided by the Publications and Program Services Department staff at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. LPI Technical Reporl 93·04. Pari I v Contents Hydrological Consequences of Ponded Water on Mars V. R. Baker ......... ... .. ... .............. ................................................................. .................................... 1 Morphologic and Morphometric Studies of Impact Craters in the Northern Plains of Mars N. G. Barlo~v ................................................... ...................... .. ....................................................... 2 Calderas Produced by Hydromagmatic Eruptions Through Pennafrost in Northwest Alaska 1. E. Beget ....... .......................... 00 ......... ... ....................................... ........................ ................... 3 Milankovitch Insolation Forcing and Cyclic Fonnation of Large-Scale Glacial, Fluvial, and Eolian Landfonns in Central Alaska ........... ...................................................................... 3 1. E. Beget The Fate of Water Deposited in the Low-Lying Northern Plains M. H. Carr .. ..... .. ............. ............................................. ........................ ........... .. ....... ......... 00 ...... .... 3 Evidence for an Ice SheetJFrozen Lake in Utopia Planitia, Mars M. G. Chapnlan ......... ......................................................................... .. .............. ................ ... ........ 4 A Wet-Geology and Cold-Climate Mars Model: Punctuation of a Slow Dynamic Approach to Equilibrium 1. S. Kargel ..... ........ ................................ .................. ......... .. ............................ ........... 00 .... ............ 5 Possible Occurrence and Origin of Massive Ice in Utopia Planitia 1. S. Kargel and F. M. Costard ................. ........... ........... ... .. ............... ............... .. ....... 00 ...... .......... 7 Ice in the Northern Plains: Relic of a Frozen Ocean B. K. Lucchitta ............... ..... ..... .......................... ... ............................................... ...... .......... .......... 9 Observed Climatic Activity Pertaining to the Evolution of the Northern Plains L. 1. Martin and P. B. lanles ................................ ......................................... ... ............................ 10 A Model for the Origin of Martian Polygonal Terrain G. E. McGill ........................................................................... ............... ...................................... 10 The Distribution of Ground Ice on Mars M. T. Mellon and B. M. lakosky .......................... .......... .. .................... .... .................................... 12 A Marine Sedimentary Model for the Evolution of the Northern Plains T. 1. Parker and D. S. Gorsline ... ................................ ............................. .. .. ................................ 12 vi Workshop on /he M(mian NOr/hem Plains Cryoplanation Terraces of Interior and Western Alaska R. D. Reger .................................................................. ................................................................ 14 The Thumbprint Terrain: What Will Mars Observer Tell Us? M. W. Schaefer ...................... .................................................................................................. .... 15 Stratigraphy of the Martian Northern Plains K. L. Tanaka ...................................................................................................... ........................ .. 15 Seismic-Triggering History of the Catastrophic Outflows in the Chryse Region of Mars K . L. Tanaka and S. M. Clifford .... .. ............................................................................................ 17 A Formational Model for the Polygonal Terrains of Mars: Taking a "Crack" at the Genesis of the Martian Polygons M. L. Wenrich and P. R. Christensen ........................................................................................... 19 Balloon Exploration of the NOl1hem Plains of Mars Near and North of the Viking 2 Landing Site F. R. West .. .................................................................................................................................. 21 Geomorphic Evidence for an Eolian Contribution to the Formation of the Martian Northern Plains 1. R. ZinIbebnan ........................................................................................................................... 21 LPI Technica/ Rep()rt 93·04. Part/ Abstracts HYDROLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OFPONDED WATER recognize at least one such spillway leading from the Elysium Basin. ON MARS. Y. R. Baker, Department of Geosciences, University It is likely that martian !lood channels may have developed a of Arizona. Tucson AZ 84721 , USA. regime relationship to the scale of their water reservoirs. This behavior has been documented for catastrophic !loods on Earth Although geomorphological evidence for ancient highly active (Fig. I). and it seems probable for Mars. water cycling has long been obvious for Mars (1-4], geochemical The association of the northern martian plains of ancient lakes analyses have only recently been found to be consistent with this fact or seas, glaciers, permafrost, and related phenomena is reminiscent (e.g.. 5]. One approach to understanding the geomorphological of certain full-glacial Quaternary phenomena on Earth. Marginal evidence has been to estimate the total volume of the martian lakes and spillways of the Laurentide ice sheet [25] and the newly hydrosphere [e.g., 2,6,7]. Here I will discuss an approach focused on discovered catastrophic paleolloods of central Asia [24] provide a the history of changing water processes on the planet, and on the rich new treasure for geological reasoning about the responsible understanding of those processes in a global sense. processes. Regional relationships for the Asian lakes are shown in Although the arguments for the various full-scale Mars ocean Fig. 2. hypotheses [e .g., 8-11] are still much debated {12J. there is abun dant evidence for smaller-scale lacustrine basins, both carly [ 13, 14] 100.000.000 -,----------------------, t::.. Constructed Dams KUf8Y F100d __.. and late [15-17) in martian history. Like the so-called "pluvial" o Glacial Dams 10.000.000 lakes of Earth's arid regions, these martian water bodies had a Largest MiSSOUla Flood(S) ~ transient existence, during which a sufficient water volume V 1.000.000 persisted in a basin through time t according to the hydrological O . ~I "-u am.296(HV) balance ::l " Mg 100.000 dY d(P+R+1) d(E+O) w Cl a: dt dt dt -0: 10.000 I U (/) where P is precipitation input to the water body, R is runoff frolll i5 1.000 ~ LI tributaries feeding the water body, I is groundwater intlow to the w 0 basin, E is evaporation loss. and 0 is groundwater outllow from the 100 LI basin. For Earth studies there is considerable experience with estimating various parameters in the balance. simplifying for equi librium 0 .(1)1 0 .1 10 \,000 100,000 IO,OOOJXX) 1,OCO.OCO.OCO 6 dY HEIGHT x VOLUME tXl0 ) -=0 dt Fig. 1. Relationship of peak disc harge 10 Ihe product of dam height x lake and evaluating runoff in terms of coefficient K for translonning volume for tcm:strial cataclysm ic Ooods (sec [24)). precipitation over tributary catchments PT R = K PT Mifflin and Wheat [18], Street-Perrot and Harrison 119), and Benson