Program and Abstract Volume LPI Contribution No. 1640 First International Planetary Caves Workshop IMPLICATIONS FOR ASTROBIOLOGY, CLIMATE, DETECTION, AND EXPLORATION October 25–28, 2011 • Carlsbad, New Mexico Sponsors U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Astrogeology Science Center Universities Space Research Association (USRA)/Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) National Cave and Karst Research Institute NASA Mars Program Office Conveners Timothy N. Titus U.S. Geological Survey Penelope J. Boston New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology/National Cave and Karst Research Institute Lunar and Planetary Institute 3600 Bay Area Boulevard Houston TX 77058-1113 LPI Contribution No. 1640 Compiled in 2011 by Meeting and Publication Services Lunar and Planetary Institute USRA Houston 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston TX 77058-1113 The Lunar and Planetary Institute is operated by the Universities Space Research Association under a cooperative agreement with the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this volume are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of 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 paper or portion thereof requires the written permission of the authors as well as the appropriate acknowledgment of this publication. Abstracts in this volume may be cited as Author A. B. (2011) Title of abstract. In First International Planetary Caves Workshop: Implications for Astrobiology, Climate, Detection, and Exploration, p. XX. LPI Contribution No. 1640, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston. ISSN No. 0161-5297 Preface This volume contains abstracts that have been accepted for presentation at the First International Planetary Caves Workshop: Implications for Astrobiology, Climate, Detection, and Exploration, October 25–28, 2011, Carlsbad, New Mexico. Administration and publications support for this meeting were provided by the staff of the Meeting and Publication Services Department at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. First International Planetary Caves Workshop v Contents Program ......................................................................................................................................................................... v Symbiotic Robots for Exploring Subterranean Sites on Mars J. Antol, K. N. Lodding, D. J. Piatak, M. K. Sekula, and K. V. Thomas .......................................................... 1 Lunar Caves in Mare Deposits Imaged by the LROC Narrow Angle Cameras J. W. Ashley, M. S. Robinson, B. R. Hawke, A. K. Boyd, R. V. Wagner, E. J. Speyerer, H. Hiesinger, and C. H. van der Bogert .......................................................................................................... 2 Exploring with MoonBats, from the Caverns of the Moon to Saturn’s Rings T. Billings and M. Runyan ............................................................................................................................... 4 A Physics and Chemistry Based Framework for Speleogenesis in the Solar System P. J. Boston ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 Extraterrestrial Caves: A Solar System-Wide Prospectus P. J. Boston ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 Rapid Assessment of High Value Samples: A Miniature AOTF-LDTOF Spectrometer Suite for Cave Environments N. J. Chanover, D. A. Glenar, D. G. Voelz, X. Xiao, R. Tawalbeh, K. Uckert, P. Boston, W. Brinckerhoff, S. Getty, and P. Mahaffy ..................................................................................... 9 Microclimate and Morphology of a Fumarolic Ice Cave on Erebus Volcano, Antarctica A. G. Curtis and P. R. Kyle ........................................................................................................................... 11 Orbital Observations of Martian Cave-Entrance Candidates G. E. Cushing, T. N. Titus, and E. Maclennan .............................................................................................. 12 Low Risk Pseudokarstic Caves of Earth as Useful Analogues of Martian Caves W. R. Halliday ............................................................................................................................................... 14 Surface Dissolution Model for Titan Karst M. Malaska, J. Radebaugh, K. Mitchell, R. Lopes, S. Wall, and R. Lorenz .................................................. 15 In-Situ Meteorology and Elemental Composition of Cave Atmospheres in Texas E. J. Mitchell, J. N. Mitchell, E. L. Patrick, K. E. Mandt, and K. N. Younkin ............................................... 17 Karst on Titan K. L. Mitchell and M. Malaska ...................................................................................................................... 18 Planetary Significance of Formed and Broken Limestones by Impact Cycles Yas. Miura ..................................................................................................................................................... 20 Terrestrial Analog of Buried and Broken Old Karst Limestone Breccias with Many Caves to the Moon and Mars Yas. Miura ..................................................................................................................................................... 21 Exploration of Lava Tubes in the Teide National Park, a Martian Analog A. D. Morse, A. Lainez, and K. T. Howard.................................................................................................... 22 vi LPI Contribution No. 1640 Lava Cave Microbial Mat and Secondary Mineral Deposit Communities: Implications for Life Detection on Other Planets D. E. Northup, M. N. Spilde, J. J. M. Hathaway, M. G. Garcia, M. Moya, F. D. Stone, P. J. Boston, M. L. N. E. Dapkevicius, and C. Riquelme ............................................................................... 24 The Interplay Between Air Temperature and Ice Mass Balance Changes in Scărişoara Ice Cave, Romania B. P. Onac and A. Persoiu ............................................................................................................................. 26 Ice Caves on Earth — Analogues for (Sub) Surface Conditions on Mars A. Persoiu, B. P. Onac, J. G. Wynn, and K. Zak ........................................................................................... 28 Mission Design for Combined Lander-Rover Modeling of a Skylight K. M. Peterson, H. L. Jones, and W. L. Whittaker......................................................................................... 29 Chance and Possible Characteristics of Extraterrestrial Barometric Cave Systems A. Pflitsch and J. Ringeis............................................................................................................................... 31 Ice Caves on Mars — A Good Place for Life and to Live!? A. Pflitsch, Ch. Grebe, D. Holmgren, and M. Steinrücke .............................................................................. 33 Novel Volumetric Cave Mapping Process Utilizing Existing Technologies D. W. Ruby, J. J. Wynne, and T. N. Titus ...................................................................................................... 35 Biodiversity of Microorganisms in Perennial Ice Deposits from Scarisoara Ice Cave (Romania) A. Rusu, A. Hillebrand, A. Persoiu, R. Filimon, E. Popa, B. P. Onac, and C. Purcarea ......................................................................................................................... 37 Patterned Extremophiles K. E. Schubert, E. Gomez, J. Curnutt, and P. J. Boston ................................................................................ 38 Extraterrestrial Caves as Archives of Life M. N. Spilde, P. J. Boston, L. A. Melim, and D. E. Northup.......................................................................... 40 Cave Detection Using Oblique Thermal Imaging T. N. Titus, J. J. Wynne, M. D. Jhabvala, G. E. Cushing, and N. A. Cabrol ................................................. 42 Consideration of LIBS for Exploration of Caves R. C. Wiens, A. Ollila, M. Spilde, P. Boston, J. Barefield, L. Le, S. Clegg, J. Lasue, H. Newsom, and D. Vaniman ......................................................................................................... 44 Reference Mission Architecture for Lunar Lava Tube Reconnaissance Missions S. W. Ximenes, J. O. Elliott, O. Bannova, and R. Y. Nakagawa .................................................................... 46 Slope Streaks on Mars — Signs of Water, Flowing in the Nearsurface Cavities V. V. Yakovlev................................................................................................................................................ 47 First International Planetary Caves Workshop vii Program Tuesday, October 25, 2011 CAVES ON OTHER WORLDS 9:00 a.m. Classroom A Chairs: Karl Mitchell Glen Cushing 9:00 a.m. Welcome and Introduction 9:30 a.m. Boston P. J. * Extraterrestrial Caves: A Solar System-Wide Prospectus [#8027] 10:00 a.m. Mitchell K. L. * Malaska M. Karst on Titan [#8021] 10:30 a.m. Cushing G. E. * Titus T. N. Maclennan E. Orbital Observations of Martian Cave-Entrance Candidates [#8022]