Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p44a..01a&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P44A-01
Mathematics
Logic
5410 Composition (1060, 3672), 5419 Hydrology And Fluvial Processes, 5464 Remote Sensing, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
Indurated layered deposits of likely sedimentary origin are widely distributed across the Arabia Terra region of Mars. In situ observations by the MER Opportunity rover of one such deposit in Meridiani Planum have been interpreted to represent grains composed of dirty evaporites that have been extensively reworked by fluvial and aeolian processes in a playa environment and diagenetically modified by a fluctuating water table. Stratigraphic relationships, morphological similarities, and spectral evidence suggest a related origin for the many layered deposits throughout Arabia Terra. Isolated intra-crater deposits, erosional outliers, and pedestal craters suggest that the Arabia Terra deposits were once thicker and more widespread than their current extent. We investigate the origin of these sedimentary deposits using global and regional hydrological models, in which groundwater flow is driven by evaporation where the water table intersects the surface and redistribution of that water as low-latitude precipitation. These models predict focused groundwater upwelling and evaporation in Arabia Terra during the Late Noachian to Early Hesperian, driven by its unique topography relative to the adjacent southern highlands and northern lowlands. This hydrological cycle would have brought a steady flux of groundwater to the surface, which upon evaporation, would concentrate any dissolved solutes as a cementing salt that would indurate aeolian material and allow buildup of thick sedimentary deposits. Groundwater upwelling would first be limited to the large craters in the region, resulting in rapid sedimentary infilling by a combination of evaporites and evaporite-cemented clastic material. As the craters were filled, groundwater upwelling would spread out over broad regions of Arabia Terra, producing widespread deposits covering much of the inter-crater plains. The observed distribution and thickness of the deposits agrees with the predictions from the hydrological models. This work suggests that the extensive sedimentary deposits of Arabia Terra preserve the record of a Late Noachian-Early Hesperian global hydrological system, and a climate in which surface temperatures in the low latitudes were largely above the freezing point of water, allowing liquid precipitation to infiltrate the surface to recharge aquifers and drive continued groundwater flow.
Andrews-Hanna Jeffrey C.
Arvidson Ray E.
Wiseman Sandra Margot
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