Thermal contraction cracks in Martian permafrost - Implications for small-scale polygonal features

Details Thermal contraction cracks in Martian permafrost - Implications for small-scale polygonal features Thermal contraction cracks in Martian permafrost - Implications for small-scale polygonal features

Mar 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997lpi....28..933m&link_type=abstract

Conference Paper, 28th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, p. 933.

Physics

Contraction, Thermal Stresses, Mars Surface, Permafrost, Crack Closure, Polygons, Viscoelasticity

Scientific paper

One of the most ubiquitous geomorphic features in terrestrial permafrost are ice-wedge polygons, formed by repeated seasonal thermal contraction cracking of ice-rich soils. On Mars, similarly small 10 to 100 m-scale polygons have been observed (not to be confused with the giant multi-km-scale polygons) and have been tentatively attributed to the product of ice-rich soil. These features have the potential to yield valuable information about the distribution of ground ice, ground ice history, and climate history. Most directly, the latitudinal distribution of polygons can indicate the latitudinal distribution of ground ice. As a first step in characterizing the formation of polygons on Mars, I have examined the physical processes that produce thermal contraction stress in Martian ice-cemented soils with a time-dependent stress-strain model. With this model, I determine what conditions are favorable to polygon formation and development and where these conditions exist on Mars.

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