Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.3509m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #35.09
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Putative paleolakes in Martian impact craters have been the subject of local and regional studies as valuable targets for exploration [1 and references therein] since they should provide information about the dynamics of the sedimentary processes and the climate under which they were formed. We identified 20 sites from the 222 suggested by Orofino et al. [2] based upon them having: well-developed, regular, and well-defined edges; no evidence of major modification due to subsequent impact; diameters >20 km; and inlet channels with a length > the crater diameter.
We report our initial analyses of MRO/CRISM [3] observations for 5 putative paleolakes using spectral data spanning the 1-2.5 micron range, to evaluate the possible presence of mineral spectral signatures indicative of the past presence of water. Such minerals include hydrated/hydroxylated silicates, hydrous sulfates, and hydrous and/or anhydrous carbonates. Spectra from a single site, locate at 16.9S and 65E, provide evidence for features near 1.4 and 2.38 micron and possibly near 2 micron. Such features in CRISM data have previously been attributed to hydrated minerals [e.g. 4]. These spectra are closely associated with the inflow channel dissecting the rim of the crater in which the putative paleolake resides. This is the strongest evidence for sustained aqueous activity from among the five sites investigated to date.
[1] Cabrol, N.A and E.A. Grin (1999) Icarus, 142, 160-172 [2] Orofino, V. et al. (2009) Icarus, 200, 426-435 [3] Murchie, S. et al. (2007) J. Geophys. Res., 112, E05S03 [4] Mustard, J.F. et al. (2008) Nature, 454, 305-309
GAM and TLR acknowledge support for this research from NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program.
Blanco Ariel
Fonti Sergio
Marzo Giuseppe A.
Orofino Vincenzo
Roush Ted L.
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