Minimum effective area for high resolution crater counting of martian terrains

Warner, N. H.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Calef, F.; Grindrod, Peter M.; Boll, Nathan J.; Goddard, Kate

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.09.024

Cited by 124 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…The age of the kilometer‐sized constructional edifices is difficult to determine as they do not represent sufficiently large areas for the determination of crater size‐frequency distributions (Warner et al, ). To overcome this problem, we determined the crater model ages of one unit with a known relative stratigraphic relation to the edifices, which are superposed on this unit and must therefore be younger.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsurface Sediment Mobilization in the Southern Chryse Planitia on Mars

et al. 2019

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The southern part of the smooth plain of Chryse Planitia on Mars hosts a large population of kilometer‐sized (from ~0.2 to ~20 km) landforms spread over a wide area. Based on the investigation of a small part of this area, Komatsu et al. (2016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2015.12.032) proposed that the edifices may be the result of the subsurface sediment mobilization. We mapped the full extent of these landforms within Chryse Planitia and performed a morphological and spatial analysis in an attempt to further test this hypothesis. We identified a total number of 1,318 of these objects, which we grouped into five different morphological classes. The edifices can be observed over an area of 700,000 km2 near the termini of the large outflow channels, Ares, Simud, and Tiu Valles, with a nonrandom spatial distribution. The features are clustered and anticorrelated to the ancient highlands, which form erosional remnants shaped by the outflow events. This suggests a genetic link between the distribution of the edifices and the presence of the sedimentary deposits on which they are superposed. Such distribution is consistent with the previous notion that subsurface sediment mobilization may be the mechanism for their formation and is less consistent with the alternative igneous volcanic hypothesis. We also propose a scenario in which the large morphologic variability can be explained by variations of the water content within the ascending mud and by variations in the effusion rates. The edifices may represent one of the most prominent fields of sedimentary volcanism detected on Mars.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsurface Sediment Mobilization in the Southern Chryse Planitia on Mars

et al. 2019

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“…The units discussed here must have been deposited long ago, when water flowed on the surface of Mars, but the precise timing of this deposition remains unknown. The areal extents of the units are too small for robust determinations of age using conventional crater‐counting methods (Hartmann et al, ; Warner et al, ). Furthermore, differences in the amount of induration in the study area have led to better crater retention in some units that are stratigraphically younger than older adjacent regions (e.g., Figure ), further challenging the utility of crater age‐dating at the scale of this study area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient Stratigraphy Preserving a Wet‐to‐Dry, Fluvio‐Lacustrine to Aeolian Transition Near Barth Crater, Arabia Terra, Mars

2019

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Ancient lacustrine and aeolian sediments have been separately identified in a variety of locations on Mars. In this work, we interpret the depositional history of Barth crater and its surrounding area in Arabia Terra where exposed geologic units preserve a record of lacustrine and aeolian interaction. Aeolian sandstone in the study area overlies lacustrine strata and is interbedded with easily eroded interdune deposits. The aeolian sandstone preserves dune strata with structures that indicate paleo‐sediment transport toward the northwest. The aeolian unit also preserves a transition up‐section from separated barchan dunes to continuous transverse dunes, capturing the development of the ancient dune field from sediment limited to sediment rich. Inverted fluvial channels provide evidence that water was delivered to the area at the same time the dune field was present, providing a simple mechanism, via wetting and cementation, for aeolian strata preservation. This example of wet‐system aeolian accumulation preserves an upward drying sequence in the sedimentary record that may have been coincident with the widely hypothesized global climate transition. The terrains described in this work provide a framework for interpreting similar aeolian units in elsewhere on Mars, even where cross‐strata cannot be easily resolved.

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“…Additionally, we note that the conclusions of Warner et al . [] appreciating the implications for validity consider the model ages over areas <1000 km 2 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The geological history of Nili Patera, Mars

Fawdon

Skok

Balme

et al. 2015

J. Geophys. Res. Planets

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Nili Patera is a 50 km diameter caldera at the center of the Syrtis Major Planum volcanic province.The caldera is unique among Martian volcanic terrains in hosting: (i) evidence of both effusive and explosive volcanism, (ii) hydrothermal silica, and (iii) compositional diversity from olivine-rich basalts to silica-enriched units. We have produced a new geological map using three mosaicked 18 m/pixel Context Camera digital elevation models, supplemented by Compact Remote Imaging Spectrometer for Mars Hyperspectral data. The map contextualizes these discoveries, formulating a stratigraphy in which Nili Patera formed by trapdoor collapse into a volcanotectonic depression. The distinctive bright floor of Nili Patera formed either as part of a felsic pluton, exposed during caldera formation, or as remnants of welded ignimbrite(s) associated with caldera formation-both scenarios deriving from melting in the Noachian highland basement. After caldera collapse, there were five magmatic episodes: (1) a basaltic unit in the caldera's north, (2) a silica-enriched unit and the associated Nili Tholus cone, (3) an intrusive event, forming a~300 m high elliptical dome; (4) an extrusive basaltic unit, emplaced from small cones in the east; and (5) an extreme olivine-bearing unit, formed on the western caldera ring fault. The mapping, together with evidence for hydrated materials, implies magmatic interaction with subsurface volatiles. This, in an area of elevated geothermal gradient, presents a possible habitable environment (sampled by the hydrothermal deposits). Additionally, similarities to other highland volcanoes imply similar mechanisms and thus astrobiological potential within those edifices.

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Minimum effective area for high resolution crater counting of martian terrains

Cited by 124 publications

References 80 publications

Subsurface Sediment Mobilization in the Southern Chryse Planitia on Mars

Subsurface Sediment Mobilization in the Southern Chryse Planitia on Mars

Ancient Stratigraphy Preserving a Wet‐to‐Dry, Fluvio‐Lacustrine to Aeolian Transition Near Barth Crater, Arabia Terra, Mars

The geological history of Nili Patera, Mars

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