North polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of Mars
An accurate self-consistent way of coregistering the imaging and topographic data sets of the Mars Global Surveyor mission was developed and used to begin a stratigraphic analysis of the northern polar region. A distinct change in the layering style exists at a definite stratigraphic horizon near th...
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:4rsmh-4eq90 2024-06-23T07:53:42+00:00 North polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of Mars Byrne, Shane Murray, Bruce C. 2002-06 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JE001615 unknown American Geophysical Union https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JE001615 oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:4rsmh-4eq90 eprintid:51028 resolverid:CaltechAUTHORS:20141029-144250693 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other Journal of Geophysical Research E, 107(E6), Art. No. 5044, (2002-06) info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2002 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JE001615 2024-06-12T02:20:49Z An accurate self-consistent way of coregistering the imaging and topographic data sets of the Mars Global Surveyor mission was developed and used to begin a stratigraphic analysis of the northern polar region. A distinct change in the layering style exists at a definite stratigraphic horizon near the base of the north polar layered deposits. Occurrences of the contact between two distinct layered units can be mapped hundreds of kilometers apart at nearly the same Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) elevation. The lower layered unit has a consistent association with sand dunes, leading to the conclusion that it is an eroding sand-rich deposit that predates most of the overlying north polar layered deposits, which exhibits the expected features of a dust-ice mixture. These results suggest that an areally extensive erg was in existence before the present ice cap and that the present circumpolar erg is likely composed of material reworked from this older deposit. The volume of this lower unit is estimated to be on the order of 10^5 km^3. The presence of this deposit implies that there existed a period in Mars' history when there was no icy polar cap. A dramatic climatic change leading to the deposition of the upper layered (icy) unit in the present-day polar layered deposits represents a major event in Mars' history. However, owing to uncertainties in the mechanics of layered deposits formation, such an event cannot be dated at this time. © 2002 by the American Geophysical Union. Received 10 September 2001; revised 8 February 2002; accepted 8 February 2002; published 29 June 2002. We are especially grateful to the MOLA and MOC teams for providing their high-quality data in such a prompt manner. We would like to especially thank Anton Ivanov (master of all things MOLA) for his help in acquiring MOLA data in an accessible form and Lori Fenton for her help in understanding dunes and all the cool stuff they can do. We would also like to thank Arden Albee, Andrew Ingersoll, Mark Richardson and Ashwin Vasavada for ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice cap Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Arden ENVELOPE(24.917,24.917,-72.250,-72.250) Fenton ENVELOPE(161.917,161.917,-74.333,-74.333) Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 107 E6 |
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Open Polar |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
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ftcaltechauth |
language |
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description |
An accurate self-consistent way of coregistering the imaging and topographic data sets of the Mars Global Surveyor mission was developed and used to begin a stratigraphic analysis of the northern polar region. A distinct change in the layering style exists at a definite stratigraphic horizon near the base of the north polar layered deposits. Occurrences of the contact between two distinct layered units can be mapped hundreds of kilometers apart at nearly the same Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) elevation. The lower layered unit has a consistent association with sand dunes, leading to the conclusion that it is an eroding sand-rich deposit that predates most of the overlying north polar layered deposits, which exhibits the expected features of a dust-ice mixture. These results suggest that an areally extensive erg was in existence before the present ice cap and that the present circumpolar erg is likely composed of material reworked from this older deposit. The volume of this lower unit is estimated to be on the order of 10^5 km^3. The presence of this deposit implies that there existed a period in Mars' history when there was no icy polar cap. A dramatic climatic change leading to the deposition of the upper layered (icy) unit in the present-day polar layered deposits represents a major event in Mars' history. However, owing to uncertainties in the mechanics of layered deposits formation, such an event cannot be dated at this time. © 2002 by the American Geophysical Union. Received 10 September 2001; revised 8 February 2002; accepted 8 February 2002; published 29 June 2002. We are especially grateful to the MOLA and MOC teams for providing their high-quality data in such a prompt manner. We would like to especially thank Anton Ivanov (master of all things MOLA) for his help in acquiring MOLA data in an accessible form and Lori Fenton for her help in understanding dunes and all the cool stuff they can do. We would also like to thank Arden Albee, Andrew Ingersoll, Mark Richardson and Ashwin Vasavada for ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Byrne, Shane Murray, Bruce C. |
spellingShingle |
Byrne, Shane Murray, Bruce C. North polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of Mars |
author_facet |
Byrne, Shane Murray, Bruce C. |
author_sort |
Byrne, Shane |
title |
North polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of Mars |
title_short |
North polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of Mars |
title_full |
North polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of Mars |
title_fullStr |
North polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of Mars |
title_full_unstemmed |
North polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of Mars |
title_sort |
north polar stratigraphy and the paleo-erg of mars |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JE001615 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(24.917,24.917,-72.250,-72.250) ENVELOPE(161.917,161.917,-74.333,-74.333) |
geographic |
Arden Fenton |
geographic_facet |
Arden Fenton |
genre |
Ice cap |
genre_facet |
Ice cap |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research E, 107(E6), Art. No. 5044, (2002-06) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JE001615 oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:4rsmh-4eq90 eprintid:51028 resolverid:CaltechAUTHORS:20141029-144250693 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JE001615 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |
container_volume |
107 |
container_issue |
E6 |
_version_ |
1802645479052279808 |