Microtektites on Mars: Volume and Texture of Distal Impact Ejecta Deposits

Lorenz, Ralph D.

doi:10.1006/icar.1999.6303

Cited by 23 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Their layered stratigraphy is thought to document variations in insolation (due to quasiperiodic oscillations in the planet's obliquity and orbital elements), volatile mass balance, atmospheric composition, dust storm activity, volcanic eruptions, large impacts (Lorenz 2000), catastrophic floods, solar luminosity, supernovae, and perhaps even the abundance of microbial life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The State and Future of Mars Polar Science and Exploration

Clifford

2000

Icarus

110

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20, 1999; revised October 25, 1999 As the planet's principal cold traps, the martian polar regions have accumulated extensive mantles of ice and dust that cover individual areas of -lo6 km2 and total as much as 3-4 km thick. From the scarcity of superposed craters on their surface, these layered deposits are thought to be comparatively young-preserving a record of the seasonal and climatic cycling of atmospheric COz, H20, and dust over the past NIO~-IO~ years..For this reason, the martian polar deposits may serve as a Rosetta Stone for understanding the geologic and climatic history of the planet--documenting variations in insolation (due to quasiperiodic oscillations in the planet's obliquity and orbital elements), volatile mass balance, atmospheric composition, dust storm activity, volcanic eruptions, large impacts, catastrophic floods, solar luminosity, supernovae, and perhaps even a record of microbial life. Beyond their scientific value, the polar regions may soon prove important for another reason-providing a valuable and accessible reservoir of water to support the long-term human exploration of Mars. In this paper we assess the current state of Mars polar research, identify the key questions that motivate the exploration of the polar regions, discuss the extent to which current missions will address these questions, and speculate about what additional capabilities and investigations may be required to address the issues that remain outstanding.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The State and Future of Mars Polar Science and Exploration

Clifford

2000

Icarus

110

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“…Grieve and Cintala (1992) performed modeling to determine impact melt volume as a function of crater diameter and compared the results with geological investigations of the melt sheets of a large number of terrestrial impact structures. Lorenz (2000a) re-expressed the Grieve and Cintala results as…”

Section: Impact Melt Production and Crater Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical calculations of the longevity of impact oases on Titan

O’Brien

Lorenz

Lunine

2005

Icarus

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“…Impact melts may be present on the surface of Mars both in dispersed and concentrated forms (Bouška and Bell, 1993;Lorenz, 2000;Basilevsky et al, 2000a;Schultz and Mustard, 2004).…”

Section: Indeed High-resolution Images Recently Returned By the Optimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of studies suggests that a large fraction of soils on Mars are erosional products of hydrothermally altered (oxidized) impact melt sheets (e.g., Newsom et al, 1980;Allen, 1982;Clifford, 1993;Morris et al, 1995Morris et al, , 2000aMorris et al, , 2001Hagerty and Newsom, 2003). However, relatively young impact glasses produced under the prevailing climatic conditions over the last billion years or so could have survived unaltered (Bouška and Bell, 1993;Lorenz, 2000;Schultz and Mustard, 2004). Impact glasses are much more likely to be found on Martian surface than on Earth due to the different exogenic conditions and slower weathering rates on Mars (Bouška and Bell, 1993;Schultz and Mustard, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spectral properties of simulated impact glasses produced from martian soil analogue JSC Mars-1

Moroz

Basilevsky

Hiroi

et al. 2009

Icarus

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To simulate the formation of impact glasses on Mars, an analogue of Martian bright soil (altered volcanic soil JSC Mars-1) was melted at relevant oxygen fugacities using a pulsed laser and a resistance furnace. Reduction of Fe 3+ to Fe 2+ and in some cases formation of nanophase Fe spatial resolution and wavelength coverage may detect impact glasses at certain locations, e.g., in the vicinity of fresh impact craters. Such dark materials are usually interpreted as accumulations of mafic volcanic sand, but the possibility of an impact melt origin of such materials also should be considered. In addition, our data suggest that high contents of feldspars or zeolites are not necessary to produce the transparency feature at 12.1 µm typical of Martian dust spectra.

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Microtektites on Mars: Volume and Texture of Distal Impact Ejecta Deposits

Cited by 23 publications

References 41 publications

The State and Future of Mars Polar Science and Exploration

The State and Future of Mars Polar Science and Exploration

Numerical calculations of the longevity of impact oases on Titan

Spectral properties of simulated impact glasses produced from martian soil analogue JSC Mars-1

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