Melt and collapse of buried water ice: An alternative hypothesis for the formation of chaotic terrains on Mars

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Volumn 297, Issue 3-4, 2010, Pages 496-504

  Zegers, Tanja E ^a   Oosthoek, Jelmer H P ^b   Rossi, Angelo P ^c   Blom, Jan Kees ^d   Schumacher, Sandra ^e  

^a UTRECHT UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

^b DELTARES   (Netherlands)

^c INTERNATIONAL SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE   (Switzerland)

^d DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (Netherlands)

^e EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Chaotic terrain; Heat flux; Mars; Outflow channel

Indexed keywords

CHAOTIC TERRAIN; CONFINED BASINS; FIRST ORDER; GEOLOGICAL FEATURES; MARS; OUTFLOW CHANNEL; ROCK UNITS; SHORT PERIODS; SUBSURFACE LAYER; SUBSURFACE LIQUID; SURFACE TEMPERATURES; THERMAL MODELLING; WATER ICE;

ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE; GALLIUM; HEAT FLUX; LAKES; LANDFORMS; LIQUIDS; MARTIAN SURFACE ANALYSIS; MELTING; SURFACE PROPERTIES;

ICE;

COMPLEX TERRAIN; HEAT FLUX; ICE; MARS; MELTING; OUTFLOW;

HESPERIA;

EID: 77956012862     PISSN: 0012821X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.06.049     Document Type: Article

References (47)

1. Andrews-Hanna J.C., Phillips R.J. Hydrological modeling of outflow channels and chaos regions on Mars. J. Geophys. Res. 2007, 112. 10.1029/2006je002881.
2. Baker V.R. Water and the martian landscape. Nature 2001, 412:228-236.
3. Brass G.W. Stability of brines on Mars. Icarus 1980, 42:20-28.
4. Carr M.H. Formation of Martian flood features by release of water from confined aquifers. J. Geophys. Res. 1979, 84:2995-3007.
5. Carr M.H. The morphology of the Martian surface. Space Sci. Rev. 1980, 25:231-284.
6. Carr M.H. Water on Mars 1996, Oxford Univ. Press, New York.
7. Catling D.C., Moore J.A. The nature of coarse-grained crystalline hematite and its implications for the early environment of Mars. Icarus 2003, 165:277-300.
8. Cereti A., et al. Electromagnetic measurements on Martian soil analogs: implications for MARSIS and SHARAD radars in detecting subsoil water. Planet. Space Sci. 2007, 55:193-202.
9. Chapman M.G., Tanaka K.L. Related magma-ice interactions: possible origins of chasmata, chaos, and surface materials in Xanthe, Margaritifer, and Meridiani Terrae, Mars. Icarus 2002, 155:324-339.
10. Christensen P.R., Morris R.V., Lane M.D., Bandfield J.L., Malin M.C. Global mapping of Martian hematite mineral deposits: remnants of water-driven processes on early Mars. J. Geophys. Res. 2001, 106:23873-23885.
11. Clifford S.M. A model for the hydrologic and climatic behavior of water on mars. J. Geophys. Res. 1993, 98:10973-11016.
12. Clifford S., Fanale F. The thermal conductivity of the Martian crust. 16th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 1985, 144-145. Houston.
13. Gendrin A., et al. Sulfates in Martian layered terrains: the OMEGA/Mars Express view. Science 2005, 307:1587-1591.
14. Glotch T.D., Christensen P.R. Geologic and mineralogic mapping of Aram Chaos: evidence for a water-rich history. J. Geophys. Res. 2005, 110.
15. Glotch T.D., Rogers A.D. Evidence for aqueous deposition of hematite and sulfate-rich light-toned layered deposits in Aureum and Iani Chaos, Mars. J. Geophys. Res. 2007, 112:E06001. 10.1029/2006JE002863.
16. Grott M., Breuer D. Constraints on the radiogenic heat production rate in the Martian interior from viscous relaxation of crustal thickness variations. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2008, 35. 10.1029/2007gl033021.
17. Harrison K.P., Grimm R.E. Multiple flooding events in Martian outflow channels. J. Geophys. Res. 2008, 113. 10.1029/2007je002951.
18. Harrison K.P., Grimm R.E. Regionally compartmented groundwater flow on Mars. J. Geophys. Res. 2009, 114. 10.1029/2008je003300.
19. Head J.W., et al. Recent ice ages on Mars. Nature 2003, 426:797-802.
20. Head J.W., et al. Tropical to mid-latitude snow and ice accumulation, flow and glaciation on Mars. Nature 2005, 434:346-351.
21. Holt J.W., et al. Radar sounding evidence for buried glaciers in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars. Science 2008, 322:1235-1238.
22. Hudec M.R., Jackson M.P.A. Terra infirma: understanding salt tectonics. Earth Sci. Rev. 2007, 82:1-28.
23. Hynek B.M., Phillips R.J. Evidence for extensive denudation of the Martian highlands. Geology 2001, 29:407-410.
24. Jakosky B.M., Carr M.H. Possible precipitation of ice at low latitudes of Mars during periods of high obliquity. Nature 1985, 315:559-561.
25. Klinger J. Some consequences of a phase transition of water ice on the heat balance of comet Nucei. Icarus 1981, 47. 320pp.
26. Lichtenberg, K.A., Arvidson, R.E., Morris, R.V., Murchie, S.L., Bishop, J.L., Glotch, T.D., Dobrea, E.N., Mustard, J.F. Andrews-Hanna, J. Roach, L.H., the CRISM team. 2010. Stratigraphy of hydrated sulfates in the sedimentary deposits of Aram Chaos, Mars. J. Geophys. Res. 115, E00D17. http://doi:10.1029/2009JE003353.
27. Manker J.P., Johnson A.P. Simulation of Martian chaotic terrain and outflow channels. Icarus 1982, 51:121-132.
28. Masse M., et al. Mineralogical composition, structure, morphology, and geological history of Aram Chaos crater fill on Mars derived from OMEGA Mars Express data. J. Geophys. Res. 2008, 113. 10.1029/2008je003131.
29. Max M.D., Clifford S.M. Initiation of Martian outflow channels: related to the dissociation of gas hydrate?. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2001, 28:1787-1790.
30. Mellon M.T., et al. High-resolution thermal inertia mapping from the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer. Icarus 2000, 148:437-455.
31. Meresse S., et al. Formation and evolution of the chaotic terrains by subsidence and magmatism: Hydraotes Chaos, Mars. Icarus 2008, 194:487-500.
32. 2 cycles: a general circulation model study with simplified volatile schemes. J. Geophys. Res. 2003, 108. 10.1029/2003je002051.
33. Montgomery D.R., Gillespie A. Formation of Martian outflow channels by catastrophic dewatering of evaporite deposits. Geology 2005, 33:625-628.
34. Nelson D., Greeley R. Geology of Xanthe Terra outflow channels and the Mars Pathfinder landing site. J. Geophys. Res. 1999, 104:8653-8670.
35. Noe Dobrea E.Z., Poulet F., Malin M.C. Correlations between hematite and sulfates in the chaotic terrains east of Valles Marineris. Icarus 2008, 193:516-534.
36. Parker, M.V.K., Zegers, T., Kneissl, T., Ivanov, B., Foing, B., Neukum, G., 2010. 3D structure of the Gusev Crater region: Earth and Planetary Science Letters 294(3-4), 411-423. http://doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.01.013.
37. Plaut J.J., et al. Subsurface radar sounding of the south polar layered deposits of Mars. Science 2007, 316:92-95.
38. Rodriguez J.A.P., et al. Control of impact crater fracture systems on subsurface hydrology, ground subsidence, and collapse, Mars. J. Geophys. Res. 2005, 110. 10.1029/2004je002365.
39. Rodriguez J.A.P., et al. Outflow channel sources, reactivation, and chaos formation, Xanthe Terra, Mars. Icarus 2005, 175:36-57.
40. Rodriguez J.A.P., et al. Headward growth of chasmata by volatile outbursts, collapse, and drainage: evidence from Ganges chaos, Mars. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2006, 33. 10.1029/2005gl024320.
41. Schultz P.H., Lutz A.B. Polar wandering of Mars. Icarus 1988, 73:91-141.
42. Sharp R.P. Mars: fretted and chaotic terrains. J. Geophys. Res. 1973, 78:4073-4083.
43. Shuster D.L., Weiss B.P. Martian surface paleotemperatures from thermochronology of meterorites. Science 2005, 309:594-597.
44. Smith M.R., Gillespie A.R., Montgomery D.R. Effect of obliteration on crater-count chronologies for Martian surfaces. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2008, 35. 10.1029/2008GL033538.
45. Tanaka K.L., et al. Resurfacing history of the northern plains of Mars based on geologic mapping of Mars Global Surveyor data. J. Geophys. Res. 2003, 108. 10.1029/2002JE001908.
46. Warner N., et al. A refined chronology of catastrophic outflow events in Ares Vallis, Mars. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2009, 288:58-69.
47. Watters T.R., et al. Radar sounding of the Medusae Fossae Formation Mars: equatorial ice or dry, low-density deposits?. Science 2007, 318:1125-1128.