Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p51d1477h&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P51D-1477
Other
[5480] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Volcanism, [6250] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Moon, [8425] Volcanology / Effusive Volcanism, [8450] Volcanology / Planetary Volcanism
Scientific paper
Sinuous rilles have been observed on Mars and the Moon as well as other terrestrial planets, and the erosion regime present during the formation of many of these features has been debated, with proposed origins including mechanical erosion and thermal erosion. This study investigates the dominant erosion regime present during the formation of a class of sinuous rilles observed on the Moon. Recent analysis of a specific sinuous lava channel observed on Mars has shown that it was carved as lava mechanically eroded the substrate, forming channels of substantial length and depth over relatively short periods of time (Hurwitz et al., 2010). The dominant erosion regime and erosion rates present during channel formation in this setting are found to depend on the flow velocity, the volume of material that flowed through the channel, and, most significantly, the channel slope. The channel slope proved to be the most important parameter in calculating erosion rates (and thus duration of channel formation) because slope influences the velocity of the fluid flowing through the channel; the volume of material that flowed through the channel was estimated based on observations. The influence of slope (and thus gravity) on the dominant erosion regime present during the channel formation indicates that more detailed analysis of lunar sinuous lava channels is required to determine how sinuous rilles form in a low-gravity environment. Observations of morphology and topography of a class of major sinuous rilles on the Moon, including Rimae Aristarchus, Prinz, Herigonius, Marius, and Hadley, have been made using data collected by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. These channels are generally characterized by an elongate or circular depression at the channel source, a meandering channel with parallel walls and nearly constant widths, and no detectable deposits at the channel termini. Measurements of distal deposits could facilitate estimates of volumes of material that flowed through the channels; without this, a different approach must be used to calculate erosion rates present during lunar channel formation. We use the lava flux through the channel to constrain erosion rates, and estimates of these fluxes can be made with observations of channel source depressions (Wilson and Head, 1980). Calculations of mechanical and thermal erosion rates indicate that thermal erosion is more efficient under the low slope and low gravity conditions present on the lunar surface, although mechanical erosion might be dominant early in the formation of the channel if the lava initially flowed over unconsolidated regolith material before encountering more consolidated material. References: Hurwitz, D. M. et al., Icarus, 2010 in press. Wilson, L. and Head, J. W., Lun. Planet. Sci. Conf., 11, 1260-1262, 1980.
Head James W.
Hiesinger Harald
Hurwitz Debra M.
Wilson Leslie
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