Computer Science – Sound
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p11d..01p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P11D-01
Computer Science
Sound
[5464] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Remote Sensing, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars
Scientific paper
MARSIS, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding, is a radar sounder that has been observing Mars from the Mars Express orbiter since June 2005. MARSIS works in the range of 1.3 to 5.5 MHz, and includes significant onboard data summing. MARSIS also operates in an Active Ionospheric Sounding mode down to 0.1 MHz to capture echoes from the topside of the ionosphere. MARSIS signals easily penetrate the polar layered deposits (PLD), usually to their basal contact with the substrate. The typically strong echo return from the lower interface of the PLD indicates that only minor attenuation of the radar signal is occurring within the PLD, implying a composition of nearly pure water ice. MARSIS data have been used to map the bed of the polar deposits to their maximum depth of over 3.5 km in the south. In the north, MARSIS delineates the extent of the “basal unit,” a sediment-laden icy layer that makes up more than a third of the total volume of the topographic cap. In both polar regions, the bed topography does not display a regional-scale deflection that might be expected from a flexural response to the PLD load, indicating a thick elastic lithosphere in these regions. Subsurface interfaces in the low latitudes of Mars are also being mapped by MARSIS, in the equatorial Medusae Fossae Formation. MARSIS has not detected any unambiguous evidence for sizable shallow aquifers. While it is possible that such features exist, the lack of detection more likely indicates that liquid water is not abundant in the shallow (< several km) subsurface of Mars. However, water ice is abundant in the polar regions, including a large area surrounding the polar layered deposits that is associated with the Dorsa Argentea Formation. In addition, analysis of the MARSIS surface echo strength suggests that a substantial fraction of the upper km of the subsurface of the northern plains may be ice-rich. In its ionospheric mode, MARSIS has characterized the complex structure of the topside ionosphere and documented the ionosphere’s behavior with changing solar zenith angle, crustal magnetic fields and solar activity.
Gurnett Donald A.
Orosei Roberto
Picardi Giovanni
Plaut Jeffrey J.
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