Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p51b1428g&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P51B-1428
Other
[5415] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Erosion And Weathering, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars
Scientific paper
The MARCI camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has now been making global observations of the Martian surface for over two Martian years with better spatial resolution and better spectral definition than earlier visible imaging systems. These observations extend the record of continuous global monitoring of the planet's surface that dates from the arrival of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) in 1999. The orbital images show a dynamic and rapidly changing pattern of bright and dark regions generated by erosion and deposition of sediments by the Martian winds. Previous analyses of the MGS MOC images (Geissler et al., AGU 2009) showed that the temporal behavior of surface albedo varied with geographic location on the planet, with some regions exhibiting gradual changes, while others showed episodic changes that typically took place during the perihelion season, and still other regions such as Solis that appeared to change on a quasi-continuous basis. These observations help to explain the significant changes observed on a decadal time scale between the era of the Viking Orbiters and the arrival of MGS (Geissler, 2005, 1029/2004JE2345). The MARCI data so far confirm many of the conclusions drawn from the MOC record up to the end of 2006. Over the most recent two Martian years, dramatic changes continued in the Solis Lacus region south of the Vallis Marineris. Another episodic wind event stripped away bright dust and darkened the area west of Syrtis Major. New dust accumulations were deposited in the southern mid-latitudes west of Hellas. Most interesting is the gradual advance of many albedo boundaries in the tropical latitudes of Mars. In several locations, dark terrain appears to be encroaching on formerly bright terrain as bright dust is stripped away from the region. MOC and MARCI observations show that these albedo boundaries are moving at speeds of up to tens of kilometers per Martian year. At sites such as Hyblaeus (west of Elysium), the Southern Tropical Dark Band (Mare Cimmerium/Mare Sirenum), and western Oxia Palus, the moving boundary between dark and bright terrain is fringed by a narrow band of even higher albedo material, presumably dust scoured from the advancing dark terrain (Mukherjee and Geissler, this meeting). These observations are surprising in view of the fact that the local thermal gradient across an albedo boundary should favor daytime winds in the opposite direction, from the bright terrain towards the darker, warmer, and in this case higher thermal inertia terrain. We are investigating whether regional winds predicted by global circulation models might force the advance of these albedo boundaries.
Geissler Paul Eric
Mukherjee Parama
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