Geologic Mapping in Mars Rover Operations

Powell, Mark W.; Crockett, Thomas M.; Shams, Khawaja; Norris, Jeffrey S.

doi:10.2514/6.2010-1998

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…We include craters that Opportunity imaged closely enough to show the morphology of their interior, rim, and ejecta. The crater floor could be seen in almost all cases and so depth and diameter were measured using stereo Navcam and Pancam images using the Maestro mission planning and data display software [ Parker et al ., , ; Powell et al ., ]. Crater diameters were generally less than 50 m and were imaged from typically within about 10 m of the rover (Tables and S1a).…”

Section: Crater Catalogmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small crater modification on Meridiani Planum and implications for erosion rates and climate change on Mars

et al. 2014

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A morphometric and morphologic catalog of~100 small craters imaged by the Opportunity rover over the 33.5 km traverse between Eagle and Endeavour craters on Meridiani Planum shows craters in six stages of degradation that range from fresh and blocky to eroded and shallow depressions ringed by planed off rim blocks. The age of each morphologic class from <50-200 ka to~20 Ma has been determined from the size-frequency distribution of craters in the catalog, the retention age of small craters on Meridiani Planum, and the age of the latest phase of ripple migration. The rate of degradation of the craters has been determined from crater depth, rim height, and ejecta removal over the class age. These rates show a rapid decrease from~1 m/Myr for craters <1 Ma to~<0.1 m/Myr for craters 10-20 Ma, which can be explained by topographic diffusion with modeled diffusivities of~10 À6 m 2 /yr. In contrast to these relatively fast, short-term erosion rates, previously estimated average erosion rates on Mars over~100 Myr and 3 Gyr timescales from the Amazonian and Hesperian are of order <0.01 m/Myr, which is 3-4 orders of magnitude slower than typical terrestrial rates. Erosion rates during the Middle-Late Noachian averaged over~250 Myr, and~700 Myr intervals are around 1 m/Myr, comparable to slow terrestrial erosion rates calculated over similar timescales. This argues for a wet climate before~3 Ga in which liquid water was the erosional agent, followed by a dry environment dominated by slow eolian erosion.

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Section: Crater Catalogmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small crater modification on Meridiani Planum and implications for erosion rates and climate change on Mars

et al. 2014

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“…All craters imaged in stereo Navcam images from Opportunity were measured using the Maestro mission planning and data display software [ Parker et al , 2010; Powell et al , 2010] to characterize their morphometry. Specifically, crater depth and diameter were measured for 29 craters with diameters between 0.2 and 6 m within about 10 m of the rover (Table 1).…”

Section: Resolution Crater Clustermentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints on ripple migration at Meridiani Planum from Opportunity and HiRISE observations of fresh craters

et al. 2010

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[1] Observations of fresh impact craters by the Opportunity rover and in high-resolution orbital images constrain the latest phase of granule ripple migration at Meridiani Planum to have occurred between ∼50 ka and ∼200 ka. Opportunity explored the fresh Resolution crater cluster and Concepción crater that are superposed on and thus younger than the ripples. These fresh craters have small dark pebbles scattered across their surfaces, which are most likely fragments of the impactor, suggesting that the dark pebbles and cobbles observed by Opportunity at Meridiani Planum are a lag of impactor-derived material (either meteoritic or secondary impactors from elsewhere on Mars). Two larger, freshrayed craters in Meridiani Planum bracket ripple migration; secondaries from Ada crater are clearly superposed on and secondaries from an unnamed 0.84 km diameter crater have been modified and overprinted by the ripples. Three methods were used to estimate the age of these craters and thus when the latest phase of ripple migration occurred. The inactivity of the ripples over the past ∼50 ka at Meridiani is also consistent with other evidence for the stability of the ripples, the lack of observed eolian bed forms in craters that formed in the past 20 years, and little evidence for much dune motion in the past 30 yr on Mars. Observations of crater morphology and their interaction with the ripples allow the development of a general time scale for craters in Meridiani Planum over the past million years.

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“…In this study we are interested in relating geological observations from the rover perspective to regional geologic characteristics in HiRISE images rather than rover position with respect to a particular map datum or coordinate system. Triangulation in rover perspective with respect to HiRISE image features was facilitated by development of a process [ Powell et al , 2010] (Maestro Map View) that merged overhead projections of Navigation Camera (Navcam) panoramas [ Powell et al , 2010] with the HiRISE image base using standard data products and flight operations software. Navcam mosaics were acquired in stereo and digital terrain model routinely generated for surroundings out to the limit of useful stereopsis (about 20 m on average) and provided detailed information about ranges to surrounding triangulation targets.…”

Section: Background: Geologic Setting Spirit's Traverse and Rover Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field reconnaissance geologic mapping of the Columbia Hills, Mars, based on Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and MRO HiRISE observations

Crumpler¹,

Arvidson²,

Squyres³

et al. 2011

J. Geophys. Res.

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[1] Chemical, mineralogic, and lithologic ground truth was acquired for the first time on Mars in terrain units mapped using orbital Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (MRO HiRISE) image data. Examination of several dozen outcrops shows that Mars is geologically complex at meter length scales, the record of its geologic history is well exposed, stratigraphic units may be identified and correlated across significant areas on the ground, and outcrops and geologic relationships between materials may be analyzed with techniques commonly employed in terrestrial field geology. Despite their burial during the course of Martian geologic time by widespread epiclastic materials, mobile fines, and fall deposits, the selective exhumation of deep and well-preserved geologic units has exposed undisturbed outcrops, stratigraphic sections, and structural information much as they are preserved and exposed on Earth. A rich geologic record awaits skilled future field investigators on Mars. The correlation of ground observations and orbital images enables construction of a corresponding geologic reconnaissance map. Most of the outcrops visited are interpreted to be pyroclastic, impactite, and epiclastic deposits overlying an unexposed substrate, probably related to a modified Gusev crater central peak. Fluids have altered chemistry and mineralogy of these protoliths in degrees that vary substantially within the same map unit. Examination of the rocks exposed above and below the major unconformity between the plains lavas and the Columbia Hills directly confirms the general conclusion from remote sensing in previous studies over past years that the early history of Mars was a time of more intense deposition and modification of the surface. Although the availability of fluids and the chemical and mineral activity declined from this early period, significant later volcanism and fluid convection enabled additional, if localized, chemical activity.

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Geologic Mapping in Mars Rover Operations

Cited by 6 publications

References 5 publications

Small crater modification on Meridiani Planum and implications for erosion rates and climate change on Mars

Small crater modification on Meridiani Planum and implications for erosion rates and climate change on Mars

Constraints on ripple migration at Meridiani Planum from Opportunity and HiRISE observations of fresh craters

Field reconnaissance geologic mapping of the Columbia Hills, Mars, based on Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and MRO HiRISE observations

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