All posts tagged Mars

Mounds in Chryse Planitia: Windows into Noachian Mars

Post contributed by Dr. Joe McNeil, Natural History Museum, London

Mars is a planet of geographic contrast. The southern highlands, which comprise the lower two-thirds of the planet form a rugged, heavily cratered landscape that are high in elevation and are some of Mars’ oldest terrains. The upper third of the planet – the northern lowlands – form lightly cratered plains, Mars is a planet of geographic contrast. The southern highlands, which comprise the lower two-thirds of the planet, form a rugged, heavily cratered landscape that are high in elevation and are some of Mars’ oldest terrains. The upper third of the planet – the northern lowlands – form lightly cratered plains, are lower in elevation, and are much younger in age. Where the two hemispheres meet, they form a planetary-scale feature called the dichotomy boundary. One of the most important – and enigmatic – regions of Mars lies in the highlands just south of the boundary at a place called Mawrth Vallis (Image 1). The 650 km-long Mawrth Vallis channel carves its way through Noachian-aged (4.1—3.7 billion years ago) clay-bearing, layered deposits that underpin much of our understanding of the role of liquid water on early Mars (e.g. Bishop et al., 2008; Loizeau et al., 2012). Ongoing work has revealed that these clay-bearing, layered deposits were once much more extensive than they are today. The evidence for this is contained in a population of thousands of mesas, buttes, and hills (‘mounds’) that exist in the lowlands just north of the dichotomy. Image 1A shows the mound population north of the dichotomy within the study area, as well as an example of three individual mounds in Image 1B.

Image 1: Similar strata, different settings. (A) shows a topographic map of the Mawrth Vallis region, with lowlands (teal), highlands (brown), and dichotomy boundary (dashed red line). The mounds are shown as black shapes in the northern lowlands. Inset MOLA (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter) globe shows location and global context of the study area. Panels B1 and C1 are CTX (Context Camera) and HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) images showing a typical mound and a crater in the highlands, respectively, which both exhibit similar dark and light-toned layering at the metre scale (panels B2 and C2; HiRISE IRB).

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by roelofslonneke on February 1, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by roelofslonneke on February 1, 2024

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2024/02/01/mounds-in-chryse-planitia-windows-into-noachian-mars/

Newly Discovered Volcanoes of Unusual Appearance on Mars

Post contributed by Dr. Eng. Bartosz Pieterek, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute.

Despite the fact that the Martian surface has been intensively studied for several decades, we still do not fully understand the evolution of the Red Planet. Specifically, our insight into the compositional evolution of Martian magmas is limited, as most volcanic regions were modified or even buried by younger volcanic activity or other geological processes. But luckily not everywhere. By using high-resolution images provided by the Context Camera (CTX) and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, coupled with their stereo-pair digital elevation models, we identified a group of small, kilometer-sized volcanoes in the Claritas Fossae region (examples in Image 1, full area in Image 2). These volcanoes are emplaced on an old and heavily fractured terrain that survived younger volcanic resurfacing event(s). The studied volcanoes, which do not show significant modification by erosion and therefore cannot be very old, show a composition that is different from most other young volcanoes and lava flows found elsewhere on Mars.

Image 1: Examples of studied volcanic edifices with their structural and stratigraphic relationships with the fractured terrain of the Thaumasia and Claritas Fossae regions. (a)The most common type of volcanic edifice occurringin Claritas Fossae. Based on cross-cutting relationships with the older fractured terrain, the volcanic activity has to be younger than the fracturing. This example has been produced using CTX image G17_024955_1524, centered at 27.3983°S and 255.0633°E. (b) This image presents an interesting example of two volcanic edifices separated by a cliff attributed to faulting, which were likely supplied by the same subsurface dike. On Earth, similar-looking edifices may be formed due to the small difference in elevation between vents as evidenced by the Fagradalsfjall eruption (Phase 2; April 2021) in Iceland (Barsotti et al., 2023). This view was produced using CTX image P18_008156_1516, centered at 28.2575°S, and 254.6175°E. All images are available in NASA’s PDS system.

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by roelofslonneke on January 1, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by roelofslonneke on January 1, 2024

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/newly-discovered-volcanoes-of-unusual-appearance-on-mars/

Surface expressions of ice flow on Earth and Mars

Post contributed by Dr Anna Grau Galofre, Laboratoire de Planetologie et Geosciences, CNRS UMR 6112, Nantes Universite, Universite d’Angers, Le Mans Universite, France.

Glaciers, ice sheets, and ice masses in general, are both agents of landscape evolution and a part of the landscape itself, when considered at human time scales, with surfaces that evolve and record changes in environmental conditions. The ages of glaciers and ice sheets on Earth, which range from thousands to millions of years, dwarf in comparison with the ages of debris-covered ice masses on Mars. Debris-covered martian ice deposits range up to hundreds of millions of years old, perhaps approaching 1 billion years old in some locations. Image 1 shows complex patterns on the surface of a debris-covered glacier on Mars. Terrestrial glacial surface deformation patterns can record changes in environmental conditions, which are also captured in the variability in chemistry and crystal structure seen in their internal stratigraphy. The morphology of a glacier surface, for example, may reflect episodes of warmer climate, and therefore enhanced ice flow; banding patterns may reflect periodic changes in the mass balance of ice accumulation and ice loss; and crevasses may reflect episodes when ice flowed relatively fast and fractured. The surface morphology of glaciers and debris-covered ice deposits can thus help us learn about the history of climate on Earth and Mars.

Image 1. Surface banding patterns on a debris-covered, cold based ice deposit (called a ‘lobate debris apron’) flowing down a canyon wall in Reull Vallis, Mars. Extract from CaSSIS image MY34_005511_224 (footprint width is 9 km). Image credit: ESA/CaSSIS.

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by fegbutcher on May 1, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by fegbutcher on May 1, 2023

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2023/05/01/surface-expressions-of-ice-flow-on-earth-and-mars/

Transverse Aeolian Ridges in Oxia Planum, Mars: Classifying landforms using machine learning

Post contributed by Dr. Alexander Barrett, School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, UK.

Transverse Aeolian Ridges (TARs) are a distinctive aeolian landform, commonly found on the surface of Mars (Balme et al., 2008; Bourke et al., 2006). They consist of metre to decimetre scale granular ripples, which form transverse (i.e. perpendicular) to the direction of the prevailing wind. Similar to terrestrial megaripples, TARs are believed to form through surface creep of coarse particles. Understanding the distribution of TARs is important for understanding the aeolian environment in which they formed (Favaro et al., 2021), and for planning rover missions (Balme et al., 2018). TARs present a potential hazard when they occur in rover landing sites. Consequently, a team at the Open University has trained a machine learning model called NOAH-H (developed by SciSys Ltd. for the European Space Agency; Woods et al. 2020) to identify these features, and distinguish them from other common surface textures (Barrett et al. 2021).

Image 1 shows bedforms in Oxia Planum. The size and prevalence of bedforms in this area is important, since it is the landing site for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover (Vago et al., 2017), which will arrive in 2023 to search for signs of past and present life in this once water-rich area (Quantin-Nataf et al., 2021). Large bedforms, or continuous regions of loose aeolian sand, could form navigational hazards, limiting the directions in which the rover can progress, or the science targets that it can access. We need to have a good understanding of the distribution of TARs in the immediate area where the rover will land, however this is not precisely known in advance and could be anywhere within a large landing ellipse. Mapping all of the TARs in the potential landing area by hand is impossible in the time available, even for a large team.

Image 1: Large TARs at the planned ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover landing site at Oxia Planum, Mars (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) Image ESP_048292-1985. a) translucent layer showing Machine Learning produced terrain classification, overlying the red-band HiRISE image from which the classification was made. The area is dominated by rugged and fractured bedrock, while topographic lows contain non-bedrock material. This has been shaped into TARs of various sizes and degrees of continuity. The divide between bedrock and non-bedrock textures is well defined, as are the perimeters of patches of TARS. The transitions between textured, fractured and rugged bedrock are less well identified, as these features form a continuum, and so some areas have characteristics of multiple classes. HiRISE Image Credit NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

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by fegbutcher on September 1, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by fegbutcher on September 1, 2021

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2021/09/01/transverse-aeolian-ridges-in-oxia-planum-mars-classifying-landforms-using-machine-learning/

Martian Spiders Recreated in the Laboratory

Post contributed by Dr. Lauren Mc Keown, School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, UK.

Spiders are unusual branched landforms found among the high southern latitudes of Mars (Image 1). They have no Earth analogues and are often accompanied by fans and spots that appear in spring. They are proposed to form when sunlight penetrates the Martian south polar seasonal CO2 ice layer, causing ice at its base to change from ice to gas, and eventually crack. Escaping gas then scours the terrain beneath, carving spider-like patterns and depositing material on top of the ice via a plume (Kieffer et al., 2003). However, although this suggested process is well-accepted, it has never been directly observed on Mars. In order to investigate whether spider patterns could form by CO2 sublimation under Martian atmospheric pressure, experiments were performed (Image 2) at the Open University Mars Simulation Chamber, which simulates Martian atmospheric conditions.

Image 1: Examples of spiders on Mars (HiRISE image ESP_014282_0930). Left shows the ‘classic’ spider morphology which consists of a central depression and radial tortuous dendritic troughs emanating from its centre. Right is a context image. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

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by fegbutcher on June 1, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by fegbutcher on June 1, 2021

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2021/06/01/martian-spiders-recreated-in-the-laboratory/

Abundant Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) Following the Great Martian Dust Storm of 2018

Post contributed by Dr. Alfred S. McEwen, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, USA.

Recurring slope lineae (RSL) are dark linear markings on steep slopes of Mars that regrow annually and likely originate from the flow of either liquid water or dry granular material. Following the great dust storm (or planet-encircling dust event) of Mars Year 34 (in 2018), the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE; McEwen et al., 2007) on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)  has seen many more candidate RSL than in typical Mars years (Image 1). These RSL sites show evidence for recent dust deposition and dust devil activity, so dust lifting processes may initiate and sustain RSL activity on steep slopes.

Image 1:  RSL and dust devil tracks on a hill in the southern middle latitudes (41.1ºS, 187.4ºE).  Inset shows some of the RSL at higher resolution.  Hundreds of dark dust devil tracks are seen on the full image as the more diffuse lines that cut across topography.  HiRISE image ESP_058122_1385, acquired after the 2018 dust storm.  Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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by fegbutcher on May 1, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by fegbutcher on May 1, 2021

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2021/05/01/abundant-recurring-slope-lineae-rsl-following-the-great-martian-dust-storm-of-2018/

The Jezero Crater Western Delta, Mars

Post contributed by Axel Noblet, Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, CNRS/Université de Nantes, France

Jezero Crater on Mars will soon be explored by NASA’s Perseverance rover. This crater has been interpreted as a paleolake. It contains two fan-shaped deposits in the northern and western portions of the crater. These deposits have been interpreted as ancient deltas. The delta located in the western portion of Jezero (Image 1) displays some of Mars’ best-preserved fluvio-deltaic features, and exhibits a variety of structures such as inverted channels and point-bar strata (Image 2). This delta contains a precious record of various depositional environments, and in situ exploration can give us insight of Mars’ fluvio-lacustrine history. The association of well-preserved lacustrine features with orbital detections of carbonates along the inner margin of Jezero points toward high biosignature preservation potential for these deposits. Hence Jezero’s western delta contains a record of the evolution of Mars’ ancient climate and possible habitability. The presence of a long-lived lake system on Mars is astrobiologically significant, and the deposits within the Perseverance landing site could have preserved biosignatures that could be investigated and cached for a future sample return mission. 

Image 1: 3D view of Jezero western delta, looking north from the center of the crater. The data visualized here is a CTX camera orthorectified mosaic draped over a CTX digital terrain model (horizontal resolution: 20m/px). The triangular ‘birdfoot’ shape of the delta is clearly visible, and inverted channels can be seen radiating from the apex of the delta. The inlet valley goes diagonally from the upper left of the image through the delta deposits. The crater floor appears as the smooth terrains on the lower part of the image.

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by fegbutcher on February 1, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by fegbutcher on February 1, 2021

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2021/02/01/the-jezero-crater-western-delta/

Overlapping Lobate Deposits in Martian Gullies

Post contributed by Rishitosh K. Sinha, Planetary Sciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, India.

Gullies are found on steep slopes on the surface of Mars and appear as a linear-to-sinuous channel linking an alcove at the top to a fan at the bottom. The most interesting interpretation of the past two decades has been that the Martian gullies were carved by the flow of liquid water as discovered from the high-resolution images returned by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard “Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)” in 2000 (Malin and Edgett, 2000). Subsequent observations using MOC and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images revealed that Martian gullies are active today and that sublimation of seasonal carbon dioxide frost – not liquid water – could have played an important role in their formation. In our recent work using HiRISE images we reported global distribution of overlapping lobate deposits in gullies (Image 1) showing that a debris-flow like process may be responsible for gully formation (Sinha et al., 2020).

Image 1: Top: 3D view of gullies on the pole-facing wall of ~8 km diameter Los crater (35.08˚ S, 76.22˚ W) on Mars. HiRISE image ESP_020774_1445 (0.25 m/pixel) is draped over 1 m/pix HiRISE elevation model. The depth of crater floor from the crater rim is ~1 km in elevation and the image spans ~4 km from left to right. The box shows the location of bottom panel. Bottom: Image shows the gully fan surface within Los crater with overlapping lobate deposits, including convex-up and tongue shaped terminal lobes with lateral levees. HiRISE image credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

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by fegbutcher on November 1, 2020  •  Permalink
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Posted by fegbutcher on November 1, 2020

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2020/11/01/overlapping-lobate-deposits-in-martian-gullies/

Chaotic Terrain on Pluto, Europa, and Mars

Post contributed by Helle L. Skjetne, PhD candidate, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.

Chaos terrain is formed by disruption of preexisting surfaces into irregularly shaped blocks with a “chaotic” appearance (Image 1). This typically occurs through fracturing (that can be induced by a variety of mechanisms), and the subsequent evolution of these blocks can follow several paths (Image 2). These distinctive areas of broken terrains are most notably found on Jupiter’s moon Europa, Mars, and Pluto. Although chaos terrains on these bodies share some common characteristics, there are also distinct morphological differences between them (Image 1). The geologic evolution required to shape this enigmatic terrain type has not yet been fully constrained, although several chaos formation models have been proposed. We studied chaotic terrain blocks on Pluto, Europa and Mars to infer information about crustal lithology and surface layer thickness (Skjetne et al. 2020).

Image 1: Examples of chaotic terrain “blocks” (referring to each mountain-like topographic feature). Chaos on Pluto in a) Tenzing Montes and b) Al-Idrisi Montes, respectively (New Horizons image at ~315 m px–1), c) Hydraotes Chaos on Mars (Mars Odyssey THEMIS daytime infrared global mosaic at 100 m px–1), and d) Conamara Chaos on Europa (Galileo 210–220 m px–1 East and West RegMaps).

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by fegbutcher on August 1, 2020  •  Permalink
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Posted by fegbutcher on August 1, 2020

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2020/08/01/chaotic-terrain-on-pluto-europa-and-mars/

Superposed glaciers on Mars: what, where, when, and why?

Post contributed by Adam J. Hepburn, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, UK.

Mars hosts abundant glacier-like landforms throughout its mid-latitudes, the presence of which necessitates major shifts in climate relative to present conditions. These ice-rich viscous flow features (VFFs) are typically found in coalescing, size-hierarchical systems whereby lower-order glacier-like forms (GLFs; ~5 km long) flow from alcoves and merge with higher-order lineated valley fill (LVF; 100s of km long). Several larger VFFs have been dated previously, indicating Mars underwent glaciation in the past several hundred million years, during the late Amazonian epoch.  However, several authors have noted examples of GLFs flowing onto, rather than into, LVFs (Image 1), and hypothesised that these may correspond to a more recent phase of glacial activity. We used crater dating to ascertain that—in addition to the earlier phase of widespread regional glaciation—these superposed GLFs (SGLFs) were formed following at least two major cycles of more recent alpine glaciation, the latter of which ended ~2 million years ago.

Image 1: Superposed glacier-like form (SGLF) flowing onto the underlying viscous flow feature (underlying VFF), in the Protonilus Mensae region of Mars. (A–B) North-up orientated HiRISE image (ESP_018857_2225) image of an SGLF (light blue) emerging from an alcove and flowing onto lineated valley fill (dark blue). Approximate location of image centre is 42.23◦ N, 50.53◦ E. Reproduced from Hepburn et al, 2020.

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by fegbutcher on July 1, 2020  •  Permalink
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Posted by fegbutcher on July 1, 2020

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2020/07/01/superposed-glaciers-on-mars-what-where-when-and-why/

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