Other
Scientific paper
May 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agusm.p42a..05k&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2002, abstract #P42A-05
Other
5407 Atmospheres: Evolution, 5462 Polar Regions, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
The north polar region is dominated by the polar cap cut by troughs and Chasma Boreale, surrounded by the north polar erg and overlying the Vastitas Borealis Formation. A thin layer of mantle with characteristic "basketball" texture typical for high latitudes covers the surface of Vastitas Borealis Formation. Study of the high-resolution MGS MOC images showed that the dunes migrate over this mantle. The stratigraphic relationships of this mantle and icy deposits, as well as Chasma Boreale-related deposits are more complex. Chasma Boreale has been interpreted to be initiated as an outflow event (Fishbaugh and Head, JGR, JE001351, 2002). We estimate that the time scale of the meltwater accumulation at the base of the polar cap and the time scale of establishing the thermal equilibrium in the cap are on the order of 0.5 Myr or greater. We compare this time scale with the characteristic astronomically predicted time scales: the time scale of obliquity oscillations (0.05 Myr), the period of obliquity oscillations about 25 deg (3.5 Myr), and the time scale of chaotic obliquity variations (5 Myr). During the period 3.5 - 5 Myr ago the obliquity oscillated around 35 deg, which led to noticeably higher polar cap temperatures and a shallower depth of the melting isotherm than during the present epoch. Predictions of obliquity in the earlier epochs beyond 5 Myr are impossible. We conclude that the period of intensive reshaping of the polar cap and formation of Chasma Boreale occurred 3.5 Myr ago or earlier. During the last 3.5 Myr the cap was rather similar to present; minor erosion and deposition of the upper layers could occur, along with modest trough migration in the short epochs of the highest obliquity. The accumulation of the main mass of the finely layered deposits occurred at least 0.5 - 1 Myr (and may be much earlier) than the Chasma Boreale flood. The accumulation could occur in response to some obliquity-driven climate variation or due to some endogenic discharge of water. The platy unit (Byrne and Murrey, JGR, JE001615, 2002) is the stratigraphically lowest part of the polar cap, and is probably noticeably older than the finely layered unit.
Head James W.
Kreslavsky Mikhail A.
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