Sinuous ridges in Chukhung crater, Tempe Terra, Mars: Implications for fluvial, glacial, and glaciofluvial activity

Butcher, Frances E. G.; Balme, M. R.; Conway, Susan J.; Gallagher, Colman; Arnold, Neil; Storrar, Robert D.; Lewis, S. R.; Hagermann, A.; Davis, J. M.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114131

Cited by 23 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Martian inverted channels are identified as extensive networks across intercrater plains ( Burr et al, 2010 ; Davis et al, 2016 ; Di Pietro et al, 2018 ), on crater floor plains ( Irwin III et al, 2018 ), and in association with multiple proposed and selected rover landing sites (e.g., Anderson and Bell, 2010 ; Irwin III et al, 2015 ; Palucis et al, 2014 ; Balme et al, 2020 ) including the Perseverance field site at Jezero crater ( Goudge et al, 2018 ). The interpretation of Martian ridges as relict fluvial landforms is strengthened at sites with strong geologic context (e.g., Davis et al, 2019 ), but there are many locations where the origin of ridges is ambiguous or could be explained by alternate hypotheses such as structural features, dikes or eskers (e.g., Banks et al, 2009 ; Butcher et al, 2021 ). Even when there is broad consensus on a fluvial origin for some ridge networks, there remain disagreements in the interpretation of flow characteristics including magnitude and even flow direction (e.g., DiBiase et al, 2013 ; Lefort et al, 2015 ), which highlights the challenges in analysis of compound landscapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inverted channel variations identified on a distal portion of a bajada in the central Atacama Desert, Chile

et al. 2021

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In deserts, the interplay between occasional fluvial events and persistent aeolian erosion can form composite modern and relict surfaces, especially on the distal portion of alluvial fans. There, relief inversion of alluvial deposits by differential erosion can form longitudinal ridges. We identified two distinct ridge types formed by relief inversion on converging alluvial fans in the hyperarid Chilean Atacama Desert. Although they are co-located and similar in scale, the ridge types have different ages and formation histories that apparently correspond to minor paleoclimate variations. Gravel-armored ridges are remnants of deflated alluvial deposits with a bimodal sediment distribution (gravel and sand) dated to a minor pluvial phase at the end of the Late Pleistocene (~12 kyr). In contrast, younger (~9 kyr) sulfate-capped ridges formed during a minor arid phase with evaporite deposition in a pre-existing channel that armored the underlying deposits. Collectively, inverted channels at Salar de Llamara resulted from multiple episodes of surface overland flow and standing water spanning several thousand years. Based on ridge relief and age, the minimum long-term deflation rate is 0.1–0.2 m/kyr, driven primarily by wind erosion. This case study is an example of the equifinality concept whereby different processes lead to similar landforms. The complex history of the two ridge types can only be generally constrained in remotely sensed data. In situ observations are required to discern the specifics of the aqueous history, including the flow type, magnitude, sequence, and paleoenvironment. These findings have relevance for interpreting similar landforms on Mars.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inverted channel variations identified on a distal portion of a bajada in the central Atacama Desert, Chile

et al. 2021

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“…Glacial eskers have a morphology similar to inverted fluvial channels but form as raised ridges due to in situ basal melting in wet-based glacial environments. Confident identifications of eskers have been made in a few select locations on Mars, often in association with areas of enhanced geothermal heat flux leading to basal melting in the Amazonian (Gallagher & Balme 2015;Butcher et al 2017Butcher et al , 2021. Ancient eskers in the Dorsa Argentea Formation (Kress & Head 2015;Butcher et al 2016) are thought to have formed when the south circumpolar deposits receded and basally melted during the Noachian-Hesperian climate transition (Scanlon et al 2018).…”

Section: Sinuous Ridge Origins and Formation Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Differentiation between inverted fluvial channels and eskers is typically made on a case by case basis and must take into account the geologic context of their occurrence (Table 1). Eskers, if recently formed, are more likely to be associated with other glacial landforms such as viscous flow features (VFF) or terminal moraines (Gallagher & Balme 2015;Butcher et al 2017Butcher et al , 2021. In the case of eskers with an interpreted Noachian or Hesperian age, such associations would be difficult to identify because the glacial ice would no longer exist.…”

Section: Sinuous Ridge Origins and Formation Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By contrast, and assuming no postdepositional modification, inverted fluvial channels always flow downslope. Inverted fluvial channels are also much more likely to exhibit evidence of stacking, migration, and cross-cutting, all of which are integral to the process of channel belt formation and preservation on Earth (Hayden et al 2019;Cardenas et al 2020;Butcher et al 2021). The presence of a caprock can also be useful in determining whether the inverted channels are composed of an erosionally resistant lithology (Butcher et al 2021).…”

Section: Sinuous Ridge Origins and Formation Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…"Equivocal/supporting" indicates that, while not disqualifying, lines of evidence in this category cannot be used by themselves to confidently assign an origin. Adapted from the discussion of Butcher et al (2021).…”

Section: Chaotic Terrain and Relation To Pitted Crater Floorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Noachian Proglacial Paleolakes on Mars: Regionally Recurrent Fluvial Activity and Lake Formation within Closed-source Drainage Basin Craters

Boatwright

Head

2022

Planet. Sci. J.

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A body of geologic evidence suggests that Noachian-aged craters on Mars were modified primarily by runoff from rainfall in a warm and wet early Mars climate. Although melting and runoff of frozen water ice have been suggested as plausible alternatives, supporting geomorphic evidence of Noachian glaciation on Mars has been elusive. We previously identified a Noachian-aged crater in the southern highlands that contained evidence of glacially derived fluvial and lacustrine features but was hydrologically disconnected from its surroundings. This closed-source drainage basin (CSDB) crater and proglacial paleolake provided the first candidate evidence of Noachian cold-based glaciation on Mars. Here, we describe a second nearby CSDB crater that contains similar evidence of glacial melting leading to the formation of proglacial fluvial channels and paleolakes on the crater floor. This new evidence suggests that CSDB formation was occurring episodically at regional scales throughout the Late Noachian and into the Early Hesperian. Recurrent episodes of glacial melting are consistent with climate model predictions of a cold and icy early Mars highlands with limited melting of glacial ice during periods of punctuated warming.

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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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Sinuous ridges in Chukhung crater, Tempe Terra, Mars: Implications for fluvial, glacial, and glaciofluvial activity

Cited by 23 publications

References 62 publications

Inverted channel variations identified on a distal portion of a bajada in the central Atacama Desert, Chile

Inverted channel variations identified on a distal portion of a bajada in the central Atacama Desert, Chile

Noachian Proglacial Paleolakes on Mars: Regionally Recurrent Fluvial Activity and Lake Formation within Closed-source Drainage Basin Craters

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

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