Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003agufm.p42a0419k&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2003, abstract #P42A-0419
Other
1823 Frozen Ground, 5416 Glaciation, 5462 Polar Regions
Scientific paper
DIRTY SUBPOLAR GLACIERS: Deeply etched internal structures of debris-covered glaciers or rock glaciers occur widely on Mars at middle latitudes. Differentially sublimated folds, crevasses, medial moraines and flow lines are expressed now as a variety of pits, troughs, hummocks, and ridges; they reveal much about the extent of sublimation and the history of flow and accumulation that originally gave rise to these structures. In many regards, they appear like usual terrestrial debris-covered glaciers (including rock glaciers). These sublimated remnant structures are not uniformly distributed on the planet; they exhibit a definite relationship to latitude. The more deeply etched icy flows occur generally in the latitude belt from 30 to 40 degrees (north and south), where possibly very little ice remains near the surface. Between 40 and 55 degrees, most of these partly sublimated flows appear to be still icy. Poleward of that, many of them show very little evidence of any sublimational loss of ice, and instead appear as thick mantling blankets sometimes having subtle flow lines. Inferences for the distribution of ground ice and the role of sublimation are similar to those inferred from the distribution and morphology of small polygons; these results are also consistent with theoretical models of the distribution of ground ice and with Mars Odyssey neutron spectroscopy of the distribution of hydrogen in the upper meter of Mars. A peculiar aspect of dirty glaciers on Mars is their current lack of an evident zone of atmospherically driven accumulation; instead, accumulation of some dirty glaciers appears to be due to load-driven expression of ice originating probably in massive crustal layers; for others, atmospheric accumulation may occur at other times during the obliquity cycle of Mars. SOUTH POLAR ICE SHEET: Previously I have reported on evidence for flowing, faulting, folding south polar ice, with the evidence for the more ductile types of deformation concentrated within the area of perennial CO2 ice. This part of the polar cap exhibits strong evidence for convergent flow tending to close the quasi-spiral structured troughs, as predicted by finite-element modelers. A rich phenomenology accompanies this closure. In some cases, good evidence exists for one icy sheet overriding another. Elastic plate flexural responses, with attendant small-scale tectonism, is quite common, as is evidence for ductile deformation. Analogs drawn from Earth's lithosphere provide compelling explanations for some of these features. Smooth, topographically enclosed flat areas in the south polar deposits may be the surface expressions of subglacial lakes or refrozen lakes.
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