Measuring sand flux on Mars using HiRISE Images (original) (raw)

Abstract

ABSTRACT As wind is the major agent of sediment transport on Mars, a quantitative estimate of aeolian processes is therefore essential to assess recent geological evolution and current climate. We adapted the Co-registration of Optically Sensed Image and Correlation (COSI-Corr) toolbox to the MRO HiRISE imager specifications to produce a dense map of the ripples migration on the surface of the Martian dunes on the Nili Patera area. The ripple migration rate, along with an estimate of the ripple height, were used to derive the sand flux, a key quantity that controls the style and rate of landscape evolution. Using the dunes shape, size, and height, which were extracted from a DEM of the dune field, we show that the dunes are near steady state, and we observe that dune migration rate varies inversely with size and position within the dune field. The time scale associated with the formation and evolution of the Nili Patera dune field, estimated from comparing the sand volume with the sand flux and the dunes migration rates with the length scale of the dune field, is on the order of 10s to 100s of thousands Earth years. However, sand fluxes at the dune crests are 0.7 - 4.8 m3 m-1 per Earth year, which is comparable to that of dunes in Victoria Valley, Antarctica. This implies that rates of landscape modification from aeolian abrasion on Mars may be comparable to that on Earth.

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