Arabia Terra, Mars: Evaluation of Potential Target Sites for the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Bord the Mars Express Mission (original) (raw)
Related papers
Discovery of a 450 km diameter, multi-ring basin on Mars through analysis of MOLA topographic data
Geophysical Research Letters, 1999
Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) topographic data have revealed a previously unknown, 450 km wide, 2 km deep basin centered at 30N, 312W near the Phison Rupes. This basin, as large as and deeper than the obvious Cassini impact basin located 1000 km to the SW, is not apparent in the existing but good quality Viking imagery. Gridded MOLA data show the feature as a closed depression. Based on analysis of slope breaks readily visible in two MOLA profiles, we suggest this Phison Rupes Basin has three topographic rings with diameters approximately 350, 455 and 670 km. These rings outline a region of lower impact crater density and smoother inter-crater plains. Similar previously unknown features may exist elsewhere on Mars, and MOLA topographic data may be able to locate them. hard to derive from imagery, such as location of a main "topographic ring" marked by the maximum relief in basin rim materials [Frey et al., 1998a; 1999]. Here we demonstrate another important aspect of MOLA data: detection of moderate sized basins not readily apparent in imagery. We show there is a large, Cassini-size (diameter >400 km) basin in the Phison Rupes area of Arabia Terra (near 312W, 30N) which previous searches failed to find. MOLA profile data suggest this is a multi-ring basin of a size fairly common on Mars. That it was previously unknown suggests there may be more such structures waiting to be found.
The surface of Mars 1. Cratered terrains
Journal of Geophysical Research, 1971
Mariner 6 and 7 pictures show that craters are the dominant landform on Mars and that their occurrence is not correlated uniquely with latitude, elevation, or albedo markings. Two distinct morphological classes are recognized: small bowl-shaped and large flat-bottomed. The former show little evidence of modifications, whereas the latter appear generally more modified than hmar upland craters of comparable size. A regional maria/uplands dichotomy like the moon has not yet been recognized on Mars. Crater modification on Mars has involved much greater horizontal redistribution of material than in the lunar uplands. It is possible that there are erosional processes only infrequently active. Analysis of the natures and fluxes of bodies that have probably impacted the moon and Mars leads to the likelihood that most of the large flat-bottomed craters on Mars have survived from the final phases of planetary accretion. Significant crater modification, however, has taken place more recently on Mars. Inasmuch as the present small bowl-shaped craters evidence little modification, the postaccretion crater-modification process on Mars may have been primarily episodic rather than continuous. The size-frequency distribution of impacting bodies that produced the present small Martian bowl-shaped craters differs from that responsible for post-mare primary impacts on the moon by a marked deficiency of large bodies. Survival of crater topography from the end of planetary accretion would make any hypothetical earthlike phase with primitive oceans there unlikely. The traditional view of Mars as an earthlike planetary neighbor in terms of its surface history is not supported by the picture data. Perhaps the most exciting result of the Mariner 4 television experiment in 1965 was the discovery of cratered terrains on Mars, a generally unexpected addition to the annual development of the frost caps, seasonal darkenings, and other presumed earthlike phenomena. The television pictures returned by Mariners 6 and 7 in 1969 greatly extended knowledge of Martian cratered terrains and showed two new uncratered terrains as well. Close-up pictures were obtained of the south polar cap and also of certain prominent light-dark boundaries. These and other results of the television experiments were first discussed in three preliminary reports published shortly after receipt of the picture data [Leighton et al., 1969a, b, c]. The objective of this paper and of the three companion papers is to describe the results of subsequent analysis and interpretation of the
2021
EXAMPLE FROM THE SOUTHEASTERN MARGIN OF HOLDEN CRATER. M. Pondrelli1, A. Frigeri2, L. Marinangeli3, I. DI Pietro3, A.C. Tangari3, M. Pantaloni4, E. Luzzi5, R. Pozzobon6, A. Nass7, A.P. Rossi5, 1IRSPS, Università G. d’Annunzio, viale Pindaro 42, 65127, Pescara, Italy, 2Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Roma, Italy, 3Laboratorio di Telerilevamento e Planetologia, Dip. di Scienze Psicologiche, della Salute e del Territorio (DISPUTer), Università G. d'Annunzio, Via Vestini 31, 66013, Chieti, Italy, 4Servizio Geologico d’Italia, ISPRA, via V. Brancati 48, 00144, Rome, Italy, 5Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Campus Ring 1, 28759, Bremen, Germany, 6Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6, 3131, Padova, Italy, 7DLR, Institute of Planetary Research, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany,
Mantled and exhumed terrains in Terra Meridiani, Mars
Journal of Geophysical Research, 2003
Hematite-bearing deposits in the Terra Meridiani region of Mars constitute the top stratum of a partially eroded layered complex that covers dissected Noachian-aged cratered terrain. The hematite unit consists of dark plains and dunes covering a bright substrate. This substrate is fully exposed beyond the borders of the hematite-bearing deposit and consists of polygonal ground separated by ridges or valleys, together with layered deposits that have been eroded into a variety of landforms. The complex is partially covered by a regional-scale aeolian mantle that thickens toward the north. The hematite-bearing stratum exhibits low albedoes, pulse widths, and intermediate thermal inertias, whereas the underlying unit exhibits high values of these parameters. Both units have spectral emissivity signatures similar to those for the low albedo cratered terrain to the south, with the addition of hematite for the top stratum. The complex is interpreted to consist of extensive plains-forming lava flows and tephra deposits emplaced during an extensional regime and at least partially buried by an aeolian mantle. Aeolian stripping of the mantle exposed much of the complex and differentially eroded the deposits to produce the landforms existent today. Exploration of the hematite-bearing deposits by the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover, ''Opportunity,'' will allow testing of the hypotheses presented since this stratum has been locally reworked into dunes that only partially cover the underlying brighter portion of the complex. In particular, the rover-based measurements will allow us to test the extent to which the unusual remote-sensing properties of the units indicate aqueous alteration.