Sedimentary Resurfacing and Fretted Terrain Development Along the Crustal Dichotomy Boundary, Aeolis Mensae, Mars Rossman P
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Thermal Studies of Martian Channels and Valleys Using Termoskan Data
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 99, NO. El, PAGES 1983-1996, JANUARY 25, 1994 Thermal studiesof Martian channelsand valleys using Termoskan data BruceH. Betts andBruce C. Murray Divisionof Geologicaland PlanetarySciences, California Institute of Technology,Pasadena The Tennoskaninstrument on boardthe Phobos '88 spacecraftacquired the highestspatial resolution thermal infraredemission data ever obtained for Mars. Included in thethermal images are 2 km/pixel,midday observations of severalmajor channel and valley systems including significant portions of Shalbatana,Ravi, A1-Qahira,and Ma'adimValles, the channelconnecting Vailes Marineris with HydraotesChaos, and channelmaterial in Eos Chasma.Tennoskan also observed small portions of thesouthern beginnings of Simud,Tiu, andAres Vailes and somechannel material in GangisChasma. Simultaneousbroadband visible reflectance data were obtainedfor all but Ma'adimVallis. We find thatmost of the channelsand valleys have higher thermal inertias than their surroundings,consistent with previousthermal studies. We show for the first time that the thermal inertia boundariesclosely match flat channelfloor boundaries.Also, butteswithin channelshave inertiassimilar to the plainssurrounding the channels,suggesting the buttesare remnants of a contiguousplains surface. Lower bounds ontypical channel thermal inertias range from 8.4 to 12.5(10 -3 cal cm-2 s-1/2 K-I) (352to 523 in SI unitsof J m-2 s-l/2K-l). Lowerbounds on inertia differences with the surrounding heavily cratered plains range from 1.1 to 3.5 (46 to 147 sr). Atmosphericand geometriceffects are not sufficientto causethe observedchannel inertia enhancements.We favornonaeolian explanations of the overall channel inertia enhancements based primarily upon the channelfloors' thermal homogeneity and the strongcorrelation of thermalboundaries with floor boundaries. However,localized, dark regions within some channels are likely aeolian in natureas reported previously. -
Drainage Network Development in the Keanakāko'i
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 117, E08009, doi:10.1029/2012JE004074, 2012 Drainage network development in the Keanakāko‘i tephra, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i: Implications for fluvial erosion and valley network formation on early Mars Robert A. Craddock,1 Alan D. Howard,2 Rossman P. Irwin III,1 Stephen Tooth,3 Rebecca M. E. Williams,4 and Pao-Shin Chu5 Received 1 March 2012; revised 11 June 2012; accepted 4 July 2012; published 22 August 2012. [1] A number of studies have attempted to characterize Martian valley and channel networks. To date, however, little attention has been paid to the role of lithology, which could influence the rate of incision, morphology, and hydrology as well as the characteristics of transported materials. Here, we present an analysis of the physical and hydrologic characteristics of drainage networks (gullies and channels) that have incised the Keanakāko‘i tephra, a basaltic pyroclastic deposit that occurs mainly in the summit area of Kīlauea Volcano and in the adjoining Ka‘ū Desert, Hawai‘i. The Keanakāko‘i tephra is up to 10 m meters thick and largely devoid of vegetation, making it a good analog for the Martian surface. Although the scales are different, the Keanakāko‘i drainage networks suggest that several typical morphologic characteristics of Martian valley networks may be controlled by lithology in combination with ephemeral flood characteristics. Many gully headwalls and knickpoints within the drainage networks are amphitheater shaped, which results from strong-over-weak stratigraphy. Beds of fine ash, commonly bearing accretionary lapilli (pisolites), are more resistant to erosion than the interbedded, coarser weakly consolidated and friable tephra layers. -
MARS DURING the PRE-NOACHIAN. J. C. Andrews-Hanna1 and W. B. Bottke2, 1Lunar and Planetary La- Boratory, University of Arizona
Fourth Conference on Early Mars 2017 (LPI Contrib. No. 2014) 3078.pdf MARS DURING THE PRE-NOACHIAN. J. C. Andrews-Hanna1 and W. B. Bottke2, 1Lunar and Planetary La- boratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, [email protected], 2Southwest Research Institute and NASA’s SSERVI-ISET team, 1050 Walnut St., Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302. Introduction: The surface geology of Mars appar- ing the pre-Noachian was ~10% of that during the ently dates back to the beginning of the Early Noachi- LHB. Consideration of the sawtooth-shaped exponen- an, at ~4.1 Ga, leaving ~400 Myr of Mars’ earliest tially declining impact fluxes both in the aftermath of evolution effectively unconstrained [1]. However, an planet formation and during the Late Heavy Bom- enduring record of the earlier pre-Noachian conditions bardment [5] suggests that the impact flux during persists in geophysical and mineralogical data. We use much of the pre-Noachian was even lower than indi- geophysical evidence, primarily in the form of the cated above. This bombardment history is consistent preservation of the crustal dichotomy boundary, to- with a late heavy bombardment (LHB) of the inner gether with mineralogical evidence in order to infer the Solar System [6] during which HUIA formed, which prevailing surface conditions during the pre-Noachian. followed the planet formation era impacts during The emerging picture is a pre-Noachian Mars that was which the dichotomy formed. less dynamic than Noachian Mars in terms of impacts, Pre-Noachian Tectonism and Volcanism: The geodynamics, and hydrology. crust within each of the southern highlands and north- Pre-Noachian Impacts: We define the pre- ern lowlands is remarkably uniform in thickness, aside Noachian as the time period bounded by two impacts – from regions in which it has been thickened by volcan- the dichotomy-forming impact and the Hellas-forming ism (e.g., Tharsis, Elysium) or thinned by impacts impact. -
Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS This PDF is available at http://nap.edu/21816 SHARE Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions DETAILS 80 pages | 8.5 x 11 | PAPERBACK ISBN 978-0-309-37904-5 | DOI 10.17226/21816 CONTRIBUTORS GET THIS BOOK Committee to Review the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions; Space Studies Board; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; European Space Sciences Committee; FIND RELATED TITLES European Science Foundation Visit the National Academies Press at NAP.edu and login or register to get: – Access to free PDF downloads of thousands of scientific reports – 10% off the price of print titles – Email or social media notifications of new titles related to your interests – Special offers and discounts Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the National Academies Press. (Request Permission) Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions Committee to Review the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions Space Studies Board Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences European Space Sciences Committee European Science Foundation Strasbourg, France Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 This study is based on work supported by the Contract NNH11CD57B between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and work supported by the Contract RFP/IPL-PTM/PA/fg/306.2014 between the European Science Foundation and the European Space Agency. -
Quantitative High-Resolution Reexamination of a Hypothesized
RESEARCH ARTICLE Quantitative High‐Resolution Reexamination of a 10.1029/2018JE005837 Hypothesized Ocean Shoreline in Cydonia Key Points: • We apply a proposed Mensae on Mars ‐ fi paleoshoreline identi cation toolkit Steven F. Sholes1,2 , David R. Montgomery1, and David C. Catling1,2 to newer high‐resolution data of an exemplar site for paleoshorelines on 1Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, 2Astrobiology Program, Mars • Any wave‐generated University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA paleoshorelines should exhibit expressions identifiable in the residual topography from an Abstract Primary support for ancient Martian oceans has relied on qualitative interpretations of idealized slope hypothesized shorelines on relatively low‐resolution images and data. We present a toolkit for • Our analysis of these curvilinear features does not support a quantitatively identifying paleoshorelines using topographic, morphological, and spectroscopic paleoshoreline interpretation and is evaluations. In particular, we apply the validated topographic expression analysis of Hare et al. (2001, more consistent with eroded https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JB000344) for the first time beyond Earth, focusing on a test case of putative lithologies shoreline features along the Arabia level in northeast Cydonia Mensae, as first described by Clifford and Supporting Information: Parker (2001, https://doi.org/10.1006/icar.2001.6671). Our results show these curvilinear features are • Supporting Information S1 inconsistent with a wave‐generated shoreline interpretation. The topographic expression analysis identifies a few potential shoreline terraces along the historically proposed contacts, but these tilt in different directions, do not follow an equipotential surface (even accounting for regional tilting), and are Correspondence to: not laterally continuous. -
“Mining” Water Ice on Mars an Assessment of ISRU Options in Support of Future Human Missions
National Aeronautics and Space Administration “Mining” Water Ice on Mars An Assessment of ISRU Options in Support of Future Human Missions Stephen Hoffman, Alida Andrews, Kevin Watts July 2016 Agenda • Introduction • What kind of water ice are we talking about • Options for accessing the water ice • Drilling Options • “Mining” Options • EMC scenario and requirements • Recommendations and future work Acknowledgement • The authors of this report learned much during the process of researching the technologies and operations associated with drilling into icy deposits and extract water from those deposits. We would like to acknowledge the support and advice provided by the following individuals and their organizations: – Brian Glass, PhD, NASA Ames Research Center – Robert Haehnel, PhD, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory – Patrick Haggerty, National Science Foundation/Geosciences/Polar Programs – Jennifer Mercer, PhD, National Science Foundation/Geosciences/Polar Programs – Frank Rack, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln – Jason Weale, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Mining Water Ice on Mars INTRODUCTION Background • Addendum to M-WIP study, addressing one of the areas not fully covered in this report: accessing and mining water ice if it is present in certain glacier-like forms – The M-WIP report is available at http://mepag.nasa.gov/reports.cfm • The First Landing Site/Exploration Zone Workshop for Human Missions to Mars (October 2015) set the target -
Volcanism on Mars
Author's personal copy Chapter 41 Volcanism on Mars James R. Zimbelman Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA William Brent Garry and Jacob Elvin Bleacher Sciences and Exploration Directorate, Code 600, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA David A. Crown Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA Chapter Outline 1. Introduction 717 7. Volcanic Plains 724 2. Background 718 8. Medusae Fossae Formation 725 3. Large Central Volcanoes 720 9. Compositional Constraints 726 4. Paterae and Tholi 721 10. Volcanic History of Mars 727 5. Hellas Highland Volcanoes 722 11. Future Studies 728 6. Small Constructs 723 Further Reading 728 GLOSSARY shield volcano A broad volcanic construct consisting of a multitude of individual lava flows. Flank slopes are typically w5, or less AMAZONIAN The youngest geologic time period on Mars identi- than half as steep as the flanks on a typical composite volcano. fied through geologic mapping of superposition relations and the SNC meteorites A group of igneous meteorites that originated on areal density of impact craters. Mars, as indicated by a relatively young age for most of these caldera An irregular collapse feature formed over the evacuated meteorites, but most importantly because gases trapped within magma chamber within a volcano, which includes the potential glassy parts of the meteorite are identical to the atmosphere of for a significant role for explosive volcanism. Mars. The abbreviation is derived from the names of the three central volcano Edifice created by the emplacement of volcanic meteorites that define major subdivisions identified within the materials from a centralized source vent rather than from along a group: S, Shergotty; N, Nakhla; C, Chassigny. -
Case Fil Copy
NASA TECHNICAL NASA TM X-3511 MEMORANDUM CO >< CASE FIL COPY REPORTS OF PLANETARY GEOLOGY PROGRAM, 1976-1977 Compiled by Raymond Arvidson and Russell Wahmann Office of Space Science NASA Headquarters NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION • WASHINGTON, D. C. • MAY 1977 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. TMX3511 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date May 1977 6. Performing Organization Code REPORTS OF PLANETARY GEOLOGY PROGRAM, 1976-1977 SL 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Compiled by Raymond Arvidson and Russell Wahmann 10. Work Unit No. 9. Performing Organization Name and Address Office of Space Science 11. Contract or Grant No. Lunar and Planetary Programs Planetary Geology Program 13. Type of Report and Period Covered 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Technical Memorandum National Aeronautics and Space Administration 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, D.C. 20546 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstract A compilation of abstracts of reports which summarizes work conducted by Principal Investigators. Full reports of these abstracts were presented to the annual meeting of Planetary Geology Principal Investigators and their associates at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, May 23-26, 1977. 17. Key Words (Suggested by Author(s)) 18. Distribution Statement Planetary geology Solar system evolution Unclassified—Unlimited Planetary geological mapping Instrument development 19. Security Qassif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price* Unclassified Unclassified 294 $9.25 * For sale by the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161 FOREWORD This is a compilation of abstracts of reports from Principal Investigators of NASA's Office of Space Science, Division of Lunar and Planetary Programs Planetary Geology Program. -
Environmental Change and the Carbon Balance of Amazonian Forests
Biol. Rev. (2014), 89, pp. 913–931. 913 doi: 10.1111/brv.12088 Environmental change and the carbon balance of Amazonian forests Luiz E. O. C. Aragao˜ 1,2,∗, Benjamin Poulter3, Jos B. Barlow4,5, Liana O. Anderson2,6, Yadvinder Malhi6, Sassan Saatchi7, Oliver L. Phillips8 and Emanuel Gloor8 1College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Geography University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RJ, U.K. 2Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research, Av. dos Astronautas, 1758, S˜ao Jos´e dos Campos, Sao Paulo 12227-010, Brazil 3Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de L’Environment, CEA, UVSQ, CNRS, 91190, Gif-sur Yvette, France 4Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, U.K. 5Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Av. Perimetral, 1901, Bel´em, Par´a 66077-830, Brazil 6School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, U.K. 7Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, U.S.A. 8School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K. ABSTRACT Extreme climatic events and land-use change are known to influence strongly the current carbon cycle of Amazonia, and have the potential to cause significant global climate impacts. This review intends to evaluate the effects of both climate and anthropogenic perturbations on the carbon balance of the Brazilian Amazon and to understand how they interact with each other. By analysing the outputs of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report 4 (AR4) model ensemble, we demonstrate that Amazonian temperatures and water stress are both likely to increase over the 21st Century. -
Estimating the Volume of Glacial Ice on Mars
EPSC Abstracts Vol. 8, EPSC2013-111, 2013 European Planetary Science Congress 2013 EEuropeaPn PlanetarSy Science CCongress c Author(s) 2013 Estimating the volume of glacial ice on Mars: Geographic and geometric constraints on concentric crater fill, lineated valley fill, and lobate debris aprons along the Martian dichotomy boundary C. Fassett (1), J. Levy (2) and J. Head (3) (1) Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, USA (2) University of Texas at Austin, USA (3) Brown University, Providence, RI, USA ([email protected]) Abstract Once the spatial extent of these features was established, we are using geometric tools to infer the Landforms inferred to have formed from volumetric extent of glacial landforms. For example, glacial processes are abundant on Mars and include for CCF, several morphometric properties were features such as concentric crater fill (CCF), lobate extracted from catalogues of northern hemisphere debris aprons (LDA), and lineated valley fill (LVF). crater morphologies [13] including: crater diameter, Here, we present new mapping of the spatial extent d and measured crater depth, Dm. CCF fill radius, rf of these landforms derived from CTX and THEMIS is measured from CTX images of the crater, VIS image data, and new geometric constraints on measured along two orthogonal profiles that span the the volume of glaciogenic fill material present in spatial limit of “brain terrain” surface texture or concentric crater fill deposits. concentric surface lineations. Using these quantities measured from MOLA 1. Introduction and CTX data, relationships between fresh-crater Debris-covered glacial landforms such as depths and diameters on Mars [14], coupled with CCF, LVF, and LDA are widespread on Mars and elementary calculus (solids of rotation), permit us to have been long inferred to represent locations of make quantitative estimates of CCF fill volume (note: abundant ground ice preserved at mid-latitude this method does not distinguish between prior fill locations [1-12]. -
16. Ice in the Martian Regolith
16. ICE IN THE MARTIAN REGOLITH S. W. SQUYRES Cornell University S. M. CLIFFORD Lunar and Planetary Institute R. O. KUZMIN V.I. Vernadsky Institute J. R. ZIMBELMAN Smithsonian Institution and F. M. COSTARD Laboratoire de Geographie Physique Geologic evidence indicates that the Martian surface has been substantially modified by the action of liquid water, and that much of that water still resides beneath the surface as ground ice. The pore volume of the Martian regolith is substantial, and a large amount of this volume can be expected to be at tem- peratures cold enough for ice to be present. Calculations of the thermodynamic stability of ground ice on Mars suggest that it can exist very close to the surface at high latitudes, but can persist only at substantial depths near the equator. Impact craters with distinctive lobale ejecta deposits are common on Mars. These rampart craters apparently owe their morphology to fluidhation of sub- surface materials, perhaps by the melting of ground ice, during impact events. If this interpretation is correct, then the size frequency distribution of rampart 523 524 S. W. SQUYRES ET AL. craters is broadly consistent with the depth distribution of ice inferred from stability calculations. A variety of observed Martian landforms can be attrib- uted to creep of the Martian regolith abetted by deformation of ground ice. Global mapping of creep features also supports the idea that ice is present in near-surface materials at latitudes higher than ± 30°, and suggests that ice is largely absent from such materials at lower latitudes. Other morphologic fea- tures on Mars that may result from the present or former existence of ground ice include chaotic terrain, thermokarst and patterned ground. -
Pacing Early Mars Fluvial Activity at Aeolis Dorsa: Implications for Mars
1 Pacing Early Mars fluvial activity at Aeolis Dorsa: Implications for Mars 2 Science Laboratory observations at Gale Crater and Aeolis Mons 3 4 Edwin S. Kitea ([email protected]), Antoine Lucasa, Caleb I. Fassettb 5 a Caltech, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA 91125 6 b Mount Holyoke College, Department of Astronomy, South Hadley, MA 01075 7 8 Abstract: The impactor flux early in Mars history was much higher than today, so sedimentary 9 sequences include many buried craters. In combination with models for the impactor flux, 10 observations of the number of buried craters can constrain sedimentation rates. Using the 11 frequency of crater-river interactions, we find net sedimentation rate ≲20-300 μm/yr at Aeolis 12 Dorsa. This sets a lower bound of 1-15 Myr on the total interval spanned by fluvial activity 13 around the Noachian-Hesperian transition. We predict that Gale Crater’s mound (Aeolis Mons) 14 took at least 10-100 Myr to accumulate, which is testable by the Mars Science Laboratory. 15 16 1. Introduction. 17 On Mars, many craters are embedded within sedimentary sequences, leading to the 18 recognition that the planet’s geological history is recorded in “cratered volumes”, rather than 19 just cratered surfaces (Edgett and Malin, 2002). For a given impact flux, the density of craters 20 interbedded within a geologic unit is inversely proportional to the deposition rate of that 21 geologic unit (Smith et al. 2008). To use embedded-crater statistics to constrain deposition 22 rate, it is necessary to distinguish the population of interbedded craters from a (usually much 23 more numerous) population of craters formed during and after exhumation.