Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufm.p43c1699h&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #P43C-1699
Mathematics
Logic
[5416] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Glaciation, [5419] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Hydrology And Fluvial Processes, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars
Scientific paper
The Antarctic Dry Valleys (ADV) are generally classified as a hyper-arid, cold-polar desert. The region has long been considered an important terrestrial analog for Mars because of its cold and dry climate and because it contains a suite of landforms at macro-, meso-, and microscales that closely resemble those occurring on the martian surface. The extreme hyperaridity of both Mars and the ADV has focused attention on the importance of salts and brines on soil development, phase transitions from liquid water to ice, and ultimately, on process geomorphology and landscape evolution at a range of scales on both planets. The ADV can be subdivided into three microclimate zones: a coastal thaw zone, an inland mixed zone, and a stable upland zone; zones are defined on the basis of summertime measurements of atmospheric temperature, soil moisture, and relative humidity. Subtle variations in these climate parameters result in considerable differences in the distribution and morphology of: (1) macroscale features (e.g., slopes and gullies); (2) mesoscale features (e.g., polygons, including ice-wedge, sand-wedge, and sublimation-type polygons, as well as viscous-flow features, including solifluction lobes, gelifluction lobes, and debris-covered glaciers); and (3) microscale features (e.g., rock-weathering processes/features, including salt weathering, wind erosion, and surface pitting). Equilibrium landforms are those features that formed in balance with environmental conditions within fixed microclimate zones. We report on our multi-year field and instrument analysis of four important ADV landforms: 1) sublimation polygons and relation to buried ice, 2) gullies and the environmental controls responsible for their episodic activity, 3) slope streaks, the role of water and brines in their formation and the timing of their activity, and 4) debris-covered glaciers and their three-dimensional geometry, mode and rates of formation. The relative geomorphic and climate stability for the entire ADV is in stark contrast with measured, large-scale changes in climate and landscapes that have occurred in Arctic regions throughout the Pliocene and Quaternary Periods. This last point emphasizes the unique aspect of the ADV, its long-term climate stability, and makes it an ideal terrestrial analog for Mars. Moreover, the specific equilibrium landforms identified for the ADV formed under climate conditions comparable to those described for Mars over geologic time. We apply each of these results to the interpretation of glacial landforms of a variety of ages on Mars and describe how they can be used to assess Mars climate history.
Baker Mark D.
Dickson James L.
Head James W.
Lamp J.
Mackay S.
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