Deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in Utopia Planitia and implications for climate history on

[1] We investigate the surface morphology of a study area in western Utopia Planitia, Mars, which is characterized by a variety of landforms that resemble those of terrestrial periglacial landscapes. Polygonally fractured ground and thermokarst-like depressions are found to be located in a young man...

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Main Authors: Anne Morgenstern, Ernst Hauber, Dennis Reiss, Stephan Van Gasselt, Guido Grosse, Lutz Schirrmeister
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.474.1376
http://epic.awi.de/16592/1/Mor2007e.pdf
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spelling ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.474.1376 2023-05-15T18:32:57+02:00 Deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in Utopia Planitia and implications for climate history on Anne Morgenstern Ernst Hauber Dennis Reiss Stephan Van Gasselt Guido Grosse Lutz Schirrmeister The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives 2007 application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.474.1376 http://epic.awi.de/16592/1/Mor2007e.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.474.1376 http://epic.awi.de/16592/1/Mor2007e.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://epic.awi.de/16592/1/Mor2007e.pdf text 2007 ftciteseerx 2016-01-08T07:28:22Z [1] We investigate the surface morphology of a study area in western Utopia Planitia, Mars, which is characterized by a variety of landforms that resemble those of terrestrial periglacial landscapes. Polygonally fractured ground and thermokarst-like depressions are found to be located in a young mantling deposit with a thickness of several tens of meters. We observe a latitudinal dependence of the degradation of this mantling deposit. Larger depressions, whose floors reveal the underlying basement rocks, cover a higher fraction of the total terrain in the southern part of the study area than in the northern part, indicating a more intense degradation of the mantle in the south. All depressions have an asymmetric cross section in north-south direction, interpreted to be the result of the different solar radiation on differently oriented slopes. On the basis of our morphological observations, we develop a conceptual model for landscape evolution in western Utopia Planitia. It involves subaerial deposition of a layered, ice-rich mantle and its subsequent degradation by polygon formation and sublimation. A terrestrial analog to the polygonally fractured mantling deposit and its thermokarst-like depressions is the Siberian Ice Complex or ‘‘Yedoma,’ ’ which consists of subaerial ice-rich deposits and is connected to nonglaciated landscapes with highly continental cold-climatic environmental conditions. Our comparison suggests that no unusual or exotic processes need to be invoked to explain the current morphology of western Utopia. However, the young age of the deposition and degradation implies climatic excursions in the very recent past on Text Thermokarst Unknown
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description [1] We investigate the surface morphology of a study area in western Utopia Planitia, Mars, which is characterized by a variety of landforms that resemble those of terrestrial periglacial landscapes. Polygonally fractured ground and thermokarst-like depressions are found to be located in a young mantling deposit with a thickness of several tens of meters. We observe a latitudinal dependence of the degradation of this mantling deposit. Larger depressions, whose floors reveal the underlying basement rocks, cover a higher fraction of the total terrain in the southern part of the study area than in the northern part, indicating a more intense degradation of the mantle in the south. All depressions have an asymmetric cross section in north-south direction, interpreted to be the result of the different solar radiation on differently oriented slopes. On the basis of our morphological observations, we develop a conceptual model for landscape evolution in western Utopia Planitia. It involves subaerial deposition of a layered, ice-rich mantle and its subsequent degradation by polygon formation and sublimation. A terrestrial analog to the polygonally fractured mantling deposit and its thermokarst-like depressions is the Siberian Ice Complex or ‘‘Yedoma,’ ’ which consists of subaerial ice-rich deposits and is connected to nonglaciated landscapes with highly continental cold-climatic environmental conditions. Our comparison suggests that no unusual or exotic processes need to be invoked to explain the current morphology of western Utopia. However, the young age of the deposition and degradation implies climatic excursions in the very recent past on
author2 The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
format Text
author Anne Morgenstern
Ernst Hauber
Dennis Reiss
Stephan Van Gasselt
Guido Grosse
Lutz Schirrmeister
spellingShingle Anne Morgenstern
Ernst Hauber
Dennis Reiss
Stephan Van Gasselt
Guido Grosse
Lutz Schirrmeister
Deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in Utopia Planitia and implications for climate history on
author_facet Anne Morgenstern
Ernst Hauber
Dennis Reiss
Stephan Van Gasselt
Guido Grosse
Lutz Schirrmeister
author_sort Anne Morgenstern
title Deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in Utopia Planitia and implications for climate history on
title_short Deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in Utopia Planitia and implications for climate history on
title_full Deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in Utopia Planitia and implications for climate history on
title_fullStr Deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in Utopia Planitia and implications for climate history on
title_full_unstemmed Deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in Utopia Planitia and implications for climate history on
title_sort deposition and degradation of a volatile-rich layer in utopia planitia and implications for climate history on
publishDate 2007
url http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.474.1376
http://epic.awi.de/16592/1/Mor2007e.pdf
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