Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p32b..03n&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P32B-03
Mathematics
Logic
3600 Mineralogy And Petrology, 3934 Optical, Infrared, And Raman Spectroscopy, 5464 Remote Sensing, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
Eridania basin is the name given to a depression in the southern highlands composed of many overlapping and highly degraded craters. It is located at the head of Ma"adim Vallis, and has been suggested by [1] to have contained its source waters. Geomorphic evidence presented in [1] for the presence of a paleosea includes 1) the origin of Ma"adim as a fully developed channel at the divide between it and Eridania basin; 2) the floor materials of the six largest craters that form Eridania Basin have an unusually high internal relief (~1 km) and slope (~0.5-1.5°) among degraded Martian craters, which are usually flat-floored; 3) fluvial valleys do not dissect the slopes of these deeper crater floor depressions, unlike similar slopes that are dissected at higher levels in the watershed. Additionally, we identify inward-facing escarpments that extend over large distances at near- constant topographic contours. CRISM Full Resolution Targeted (FRT) observations of outcrop units throughout the region show a preponderance of hydrous mineralogies, including Fe/Mg smectites (identified by 1.4, 1.9, and ~2.3 μm bands), hydrated silica (identified by 1.4, 1.9, and broad 2.2 μm bands), and kaolinite-group (identified primarily by at 1.4 μm band and a doublet at 2.2 μm) minerals. Focused spectral studies of the chaos units found in the three deepest portions of Eridania Basin (Ariadness Colles, Gorgonum Chaos, and Atlantis Chaos) show abundant hydrous minerals associated with the chaos hummocks, suggesting that these hummocks are the erosional remnants of a unit containing aqueously deposited minerals. The distribution of these minerals is found to vary spatially from hummock to hummock and they typically lack obvious bedding at HiRISE scales (50 cm/pixel). Analyses of other geomorphologically distinct indurated units in the region show that Fe/Mg-smectites are present in a large fraction of these units, suggesting a complex history of deposition, alteration, and erosion throughout the region. These materials appear distinct from layered deposits on surrounding surfaces in the Electris region In general, the hydrate-bearing outcrops are being exhumed from under a darker, more resistant mantling unit whose morphology and texture are reminiscent of those observed in the western Arabia Terra region, suggesting that similar geological processes may have been responsible for the deposition of the overlying unit. [1] Irwin, R.P. et al, JGR 109, E12009, 2004.
Catling David
Grant Jackie
Howard Andrew
Moore Joshua
Noe Dobrea Eldar Z.
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