Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufm.p51b0360t&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #P51B-0360
Mathematics
Logic
5415 Erosion And Weathering, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
Mars at present has a thin, dry, and cold atmosphere relative to Earth's. The cold temperatures suggest that any subsurface water (perhaps combined with carbon dioxide as clathrate) would likely be frozen within a couple kilometers or more of the surface. This condition may have been prevalent following widespread fluvial dissection that formed numerous valley networks in highland rocks during the Noachian. The sources of some ancient and of most relatively young valley systems, particularly the large outflow channels, occur within or near volcanic rocks or display morphologic evidence for volcanic and/or tectonic associations. Such geologic relations have led many investigators to propose that magmatic activity has been a significant (if not dominant) driver of younger fluvial erosion on the surface of Mars. Magmatism may have provided the heat to raise local subsurface temperatures to near or above the freezing point of water; furthermore, intrusive activity may have fractured aquifers that provided conduits for release of substantial volumes of ground volatiles. Evidence of such interactions includes lengthy outflow channels sourced from fissures or depressions in volcanic rocks of the Tharsis/Valles Marineris, Elysium, and eastern Hellas regions. Depressions filled with chaotic terrain at the heads of the circum-Chryse outflow channels may be sites where large volumes of magmatic material may have interacted with water and perhaps carbon dioxide in rocks beneath the cryosphere, leading to catastrophic expulsion of the volatiles and collapse of country rock. Other evidence for magmatically driven erosion may include the low Hellas rim areas, where Malea and Hesperia Plana reside, and the channeled flanks of possible Noachian volcanoes in Thaumasia (south Tharsis region). Mars Global Surveyor's MOLA topography data and MOC images and Mars Odyssey's THEMIS images are providing new insights into the possible interactions between magmatism and fluvial erosion on Mars.
Chapman Mary G.
Skinner Andrew J.
Tanaka Ken L.
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