Multiple sites of recent wet-based glaciation identified from eskers in western Tempe Terra, Mars

Woodley, Savana Z.; Butcher, Frances E. G.; Fawdon, P.; Clark, Chris D.; Ng, Felix; Davis, J. M.; Gallagher, Colman

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115147

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Therefore, Grau Galofre (2022) and others posit that the most common indicator landforms of warm-based glaciation on Mars could be those formed by channelized subglacial meltwater, including eskers. This is consistent with a growing number of 'candidate glacier-linked eskers' identified emerging from, or geomorphologically connected to, VFFs (Gallagher and Balme, 2015;Butcher and others, 2017Butcher and others, , 2020Butcher and others, , 2021Woodley and others, 2022). assemblage in the foreland of a VFF occupying a tectonic graben in Phlegra Montes, a mountain chain in Mars' northern mid-latitudes (Figs 1a and b).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Butcher and others, 2017). Woodley and others (2022) considered the hypothesis that regional climate change could explain the discoveries of multiple candidate glacier-linked eskers in Tempe Terra, over a region spanning hundreds of kilometres (Fig 1e) others, 2017, 2021;Woodley and others, 2022). They suggest that multiple, spatially distributed but localised geothermal heating events in this extensively tectonised region remain the strongest explanation, owing to the lack of associated evidence for past supraglacial melting.…”

Section: Open Questions and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies exploring esker origins for sinuous ridges on Mars have included comparisons to the planform morphometries (e.g. length, sinuosity, fragmentation) of >20 000 eskers deposited by the Laurentide Ice Sheet on Earth (Storrar and others, 2014), identifying sinuosity as a particular source of similarity (Butcher and others, 2016;Butcher, 2019;Woodley and others, 2022). 3D (e.g.…”

Section: Open Questions and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The candidate glacier-linked eskers measured to date approach the width-height ratios of eskers on Earth, but are typically wider relative to their heights (e.g. Butcher, 2019;Butcher and others, 2020;Woodley others, 2022). It is not yet understood whether such differences weaken the esker hypothesis, or could be explained by fundamental differences in esker formation dynamics (e.g.…”

Section: Open Questions and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…due to gravity or ice rheology) and/or degradation states (e.g. due to differences in post-depositional exposure time and erosion rates) relative to Earth (Butcher, 2019;Woodley and others, 2022).…”

Section: Open Questions and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Eskers associated with buried glaciers in Mars' mid latitudes: recent advances and future directions

et al. 2022

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Until recently, the influence of basal liquid water on the evolution of buried glaciers in Mars' mid latitudes was assumed to be negligible because the latter stages of Mars' Amazonian period (3 Ga to present) have long been thought to have been similarly cold and dry to today. Recent identifications of several landforms interpreted as eskers associated with these young (100s Ma) glaciers calls this assumption into doubt. They indicate basal melting (at least locally and transiently) of their parent glaciers. Although rare, they demonstrate a more complex mid-to-late Amazonian environment than was previously understood. Here, we discuss several open questions posed by the existence of glacier-linked eskers on Mars, including on their global-scale abundance and distribution, the drivers and dynamics of melting and drainage, and the fate of meltwater upon reaching the ice margin. Such questions provide rich opportunities for collaboration between the Mars and Earth cryosphere research communities.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Open Questions and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Open Questions and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Open Questions and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Open Questions and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Eskers associated with buried glaciers in Mars' mid latitudes: recent advances and future directions

et al. 2022

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Geological Record of Water and Wind Processes on Mars as Observed by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera

Jaumann,

Tirsch,

Adeli

et al. 2024

Space Sci Rev

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This review paper summarizes the observations and results of the Mars Express Mission and its application in the analysis of geological processes and landforms on Mars during the last 20 years. The Mars Express observations provided an extended data base allowing a comparative evaluation of different geological surface landforms and their time-based delimitation. High-resolution imagery and digital elevations models on a local to regional scale and spectral measurements are the basis for geological analyses of water-related surface processes on Mars. This includes the nature and discharges of valley networks, formation timescale of deltas, volumina of sedimentary deposits as well as estimating the age of geological units by crater size–frequency distribution measurements. Both the quantifying of geological processes and the determination of absolute model ages allows to constraint the evolution of Martian water-related activity in space and time. Comparative age estimation of fluvial, glacial, and lacustrine deposits, as well as their timing and episodicity, has revealed the nature and evolution of the Martian surface hydrological cycle. Fluvial and lacustrine activity phases are spread over a time span from Noachian until Amazonian periods, but detailed studies show that they have been interrupted by multiple and long-lasting phases of cessation and quiescent. In addition, evidence of glacial activity shows discrete phases of enhanced intensity correlating with increased spin-axis obliquity amplitude. The episodicity of geological processes, erosion, deposition, and glaciation on Mars demonstrate a close correlation between individual surface processes and endogenic activity as well as spin-axis/orbital variations and changing climate condition.

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Glacial deposits, remnants, and landscapes on Amazonian Mars: Using setting, structure, and stratigraphy to understand ice evolution and climate history

Koutnik,

Butcher,

Soare

et al. 2024

Ices in the Solar System

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Multiple sites of recent wet-based glaciation identified from eskers in western Tempe Terra, Mars

Cited by 6 publications

References 64 publications

Eskers associated with buried glaciers in Mars' mid latitudes: recent advances and future directions

Eskers associated with buried glaciers in Mars' mid latitudes: recent advances and future directions

Geological Record of Water and Wind Processes on Mars as Observed by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera

Glacial deposits, remnants, and landscapes on Amazonian Mars: Using setting, structure, and stratigraphy to understand ice evolution and climate history

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