Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.u14a..01a&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #U14A-01
Other
5460 Physical Properties Of Materials, 5462 Polar Regions, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
The Phoenix Lander touched down ~30 km to the southwest (68.22 N, 234.25 E) of the Amazonian aged, 10 km wide, bowl-shaped Heimdall impact crater. The lander is sitting on ejecta deposits from the Heimdall event that were emplaced as a ground hugging, volatile rich flow, interpreted to be a consequence of impact into icy soil and bedrock. The ejecta deposits have been differentially eroded by aeolian activity and reworked by permafrost-related processes into polygonal ground. Rock abundances are low relative to most of Mars and rocks are concentrated in troughs in between polygons and tend to be evenly spaced, implying an on-going process of polygon formation. Rocks range from tabular to rounded in shape and massive to vesicular in texture. Very few aeolian features (e.g., ripples or ventifacted rock surfaces) are evident, in contrast to the other Mars landing sites. Based on analyses of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM hyperspectral data (~0.4 to 4 micrometers) and Phoenix observations, the surface cover is dominated by basaltic soils (sandy silts) and ferric-rich dust, with only contribution from minerals formed under aqueous conditions. The soil is cloddy and adheres to spacecraft surfaces, probably because of electrostatic charging. Densely-cemented icy soil is found within a few centimeters of the surface and once exposed and allowed to warm in the sunlight the ice eventually sublimates into the atmosphere, leaving behind soil lag deposits. The Phoenix landing site is unique relative to the other five sites (two Viking Landers, Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity rovers) because of the high latitude, location on relatively young ejecta emplaced as a volatile-rich flow, and because the ice table depth is predicted to have varied from centimeters to as much as a meter beneath the surface during orbital shifts associated with Martian Milankovitch cycles and consequent insolation over the northern latitudes.
Arvidson Ray E.
Mellon Michael T.
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