Radar Probing of Isidis and Amazonis Planetias: Exploring the Origin and the Bulk Composition of the Large Equatorial basins fills Using MARSIS and SHARAD data

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[5419] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Hydrology And Fluvial Processes, [5460] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Physical Properties Of Materials, [5794] Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets / Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

Assessing volatiles distribution in the Martian subsurface is a key element in understanding its hydrogelogical past and the current state of water presence. To address this objective two low-frequency, nadir-looking, pulse-limited radar sounders, MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding on board the Mars Express spacecraft) and SHARAD (the Shallow Radar instrument on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) are currently performing a global probing of the electromagnetic properties of the upper crust. Of particular interest are the Isidis and Amazonis planetias as both basins are hypothesized to be filled whether by sediments from drainage leading into those lower topographic zones or by an older paleoocean. It has been suggested that those large-scale sedimentary deposits may still be volatile-rich. The Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Observations onboard Mars Odyssey suggested a maximum inferred water abundance of 3 wt% in Isidis. In order to constrain the origin of the basin fills, we performed three-dimensional regional-normalized attenuation maps of the surface and shallow subsurface using the signal-decay method to provide an insight to the dielectrical properties of those terrains and hence constraining the subsurface fill composition by comparing the observed dielectric values as inferred from the radar data analysis to those of laboratory measurements on a Mars analog soil database. Our preliminary results suggest that the upper fill in the first 300m in both Amazonis and Isidis have different dielectrical properties and hence are suggested to be filled with different type of sediments. The MARSIS attenuation analysis suggest that Isidis basin is composed of a more homogenous fill with a one unique material composition while Amazonis show a more complex fill type with a more complex dielectric geographical variation. In the light of the current observations we discuss the hypothesis on the origin of those basins fills in Isidis and Amazonis and the implications for the paleoocean theory. The research described in this paper was carried out by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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