Geologic features of Wudalianchi volcanic field,northeastern China: Implications for Martian volcanology

Wudalianchi volcanic field, located in northeast China, consists of 14 Quaternary volcanoes with each volcano as a steep-sided scoria cone surrounded by gently sloping lava flows. Each cone is topped with a bowl-shaped or funnel-shaped crater. The volcanic cones are constructed by the accumulation of tephra and other ejecta. In this paper, their geologic features have been investigated and compared with some Martian volcanic features at Ascraeus Mons volcanoes observed on images obtained from High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiments (HiRISE), Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), Context Imager (CTX) and Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). The results show that both Wudalianchi and Ascraeus Mons volcanoes are basaltic, share similar eruptive and geomorphologic features and eruptive styles, and have experienced multiple eruptive phases, in spite of the significant differences in their dimension and size. Both also show a variety of eruptive styles, such as fissure and central venting, tube-fed and channel-fed lava flows, and probably pyroclastic deposits. Three volcanic events are recognized at Ascraeus Mons, including an early phase of shield construction, a middle eruptive phase forming a low lava shield, and the last stage with aprons mantling both NE and SW flanks. We suggest that magma generation at both Wudalianchi and Ascraeus Mons might have been facilitated by an upwelling mantle plume or upwelling of asthenospheric mantle, and a deep-seated fault zone might have controlled magma emplacement and subsequent eruptions in Ascraeus Mons as observed in the Wudalianchi field, where the volcanoes are constructed along the northeast-striking faults. Fumarolic cones produced by water/magma interaction at the Wudalianchi volcanic field may also serve as an analogue for the pseudocraters identified at Isidis and Cerberus Planitia on Mars, suggesting existence of frozen water in the ground on Mars during Martian volcanic eruptions.     

Geologic mapping of the Zal region of Io

We produced a regional geologic map of the Zal region of Io's antijovian hemisphere using Galileo mission data. We discuss the geologic features, summarize the map units and structures that are present, discuss the nature of volcanic activity, and present an analysis of the volcanic, tectonic, and gradational processes that affect the region. The Zal region consists of five primary types of geologic materials: plains, mountains, paterae floors, flows, and diffuse deposits. The flows and patera floors are similar, but are subdivided based on uncertainties regarding emplacement environments and mechanisms. The Zal region includes two hotspots detected by Galileo: one along the western scarp of the Zal Patera volcano and one at the Rustam Patera volcano (name submitted to IAU). A third hotspot at the nearby At'am Patera volcano (name submitted to IAU) is the source of diffuse and pyroclastic materials that blanket north Zal Mons. The western bounding scarp of Zal Patera is the location of a fissure vent that is the source of multiple silicate lava flows. The floor of Zal Patera has been partially resurfaced by dark lava flows, although portions of the patera floor appear bright and unchanged during the Galileo mission. This suggests that the floor did not undergo complete resurfacing as a flooding lava lake but does contain a compound flow field. Mountain materials exhibit stages of degradation; lineated material degrades into mottled material. We have explored the possibility that north and south Zal Mons were originally one structure. We propose that strike-slip faulting and subsequent rifting separated the mountain units, opened a fissure which serves as a vent for lava flow, and created a depression which, by further extension during the rifting event, became Zal Patera. With comparison to other regional maps of Io, this work provides insight into the general geologic evolution of Io.     

Geologic mapping of the Hi’iaka and Shamshu regions of Io

We produced regional geologic maps of the Hi’iaka and Shamshu regions of Io’s antijovian hemisphere using Galileo mission data to assess the geologic processes that are involved in the formation of Io’s mountains and volcanic centers. Observations reveal that these regions are characterized by several types of volcanic activity and features whose orientation and texture indicate tectonic activity. Among the volcanic features are multiple hotspots and volcanic vents detected by Galileo, one at each of the major paterae: Hi’iaka, Shamshu, and Tawhaki. We mapped four primary types of geologic units: flows, paterae floors, plains, and mountains. The flows and patera floors are similar, but are subdivided based upon emplacement environments and mechanisms. The floors of Hi’iaka and Shamshu Paterae have been partially resurfaced by dark lava flows, although portions of the paterae floors appear bright and unchanged during the Galileo mission; this suggests that the floors did not undergo complete resurfacing as flooding lava lakes. However, the paterae do contain compound lava flow fields and show the greatest activity near the paterae walls, a characteristic of Pele type lava lakes. Mountain materials are tilted crustal blocks that exhibit varied degrees of degradation. Lineated mountains have characteristic en echelon grooves that likely formed as a result of gravitational sliding. Undivided mountains are partially grooved but exhibit evidence of slumping and are generally lower elevation than the lineated units. Debris lobes and aprons are representative of mottled mountain materials. We have explored the possibility that north and south Hi’iaka Mons were originally one structure. We propose that strike-slip faulting and subsequent rifting separated the mountain units and created a depression which, by further extension during the rifting event, became Hi’iaka Patera. This type of rifting and depression formation is similar to the mechanism of formation of terrestrial pull-apart basins. With comparison to other regional maps of Io and global studies of paterae and mountains, this work provides insight into the general geologic evolution of Io.     

Inflated flows on Daedalia Planum (Mars)? Clues from a comparative analysis with the Payen volcanic complex (Argentina)

Inflation is an emplacement process of lava flows, where a thin visco-elastic layer, produced at an early stage, is later inflated by an underlying fluid core. The core remains hot and fluid for extended period of time due to the thermal-shield effect of the surface visco-elastic crust. Plentiful and widespread morphological fingerprints of inflation like tumuli and lava rises are found on the Payen volcanic complex (Argentina), where pahoehoe lava flows extend over the relatively flat surface of the Pampean foreland and reach at least 180 km in length.The morphology of the Argentinean Payen flows were compared with lava flows on Daedalia Planum (Mars), using Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)/High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). THEMIS images were used to map the main geological units of Daedalia Planum and determine their stratigraphic relationships. MOLA data were used to investigate the topographic surface over which the flows propagated and assess the thickness of lava flows. Finally, MOC and MRO/HIRISE images were used to identify inflations fingerprints and assess the cratering age of the Daedalia Planum’ s youngest flow unit which were found to predate the caldera formation on top of the Arsia Mons. The identification of similar inflation features between the Daedalia Planum and the Payen lava fields suggests that moderate and long lasting effusion rates coupled with very efficient spreading processes could have cyclically occurred in the Arsia Mons volcano during its eruptive history. Consequently the effusion rates and rheological proprieties of Daedalia lava flows, which do not take into account the inflation process, can be overestimated. These findings raise some doubts about the effusion rates and lava rheological properties calculated on Martian flows and recommends that these should be used with caution if applied on flows not checked with high-resolution images and potentially affected by inflation. Further HiRISE data acquisition will permit additional analysis of the flow surfaces and will allow more accurate estimates of effusion rates and rheological properties of the lava flows on Mars particularly if this data is acquired under a favourable illumination.     

History of plains resurfacing in the Scandia region of Mars

We present a preliminary photogeologic map of the Scandia region of Mars with the objective of reconstructing its resurfacing history. The Scandia region includes the lower section of the regional lowland slope of Vastitas Borealis extending about 500–1800 km away from Alba Mons into the Scandia sub-basin below ?4800 m elevation. Twenty mapped geologic units express the diverse stratigraphy of the region. We particularly focus on the materials making up the Vastitas Borealis plains and its Scandia sub-region, where erosional processes have obscured stratigraphic relations and made the reconstruction of the resurfacing history particularly challenging. Geologic mapping implicates the deposition, erosion, and deformation/degradation of geologic units predominantly during Late Hesperian and Early Amazonian time (～3.6–3.3 Ga). During this time, Alba Mons was active, outflow channels were debouching sediments into the northern plains, and basal ice layers of the north polar plateau were accumulating. We identify zones of regional tectonic contraction and extension as well as gradation and mantling. Depressions and scarps within these zones indicate collapse and gradation of Scandia outcrops and surfaces at scales of meters to hundreds of meters. We find that Scandia Tholi display concentric ridges, rugged peaks, irregular depressions, and moats that suggest uplift and tilting of layered plains material by diapirs and extrusion, erosion, and deflation of viscous, sedimentary slurries as previously suggested. These appear to be long-lived features that both pre-date and post-date impact craters. Mesa-forming features may have similar origins and occur along the southern margin of the Scandia region, including near the Phoenix Mars Lander site. Distinctive lobate materials associated with local impact craters suggest impact-induced mobilization of surface materials. We suggest that the formation of the Scandia region features potentially resulted from crustal heating related to Alba Mons volcanism, which acted upon a sequence of lavas, outflow channel sediments, and polar ice deposits centered within the Scandia region. These volatile-enriched sediments may have been in a state of partial volatile melt, resulting in the mobilization of deeply buried ancient materials and their ascent and emergence as sediment and mud breccia diapirs to form tholi features. Similar subsurface instabilities proximal to Alba Mons may have led to surface disruption, as suggested by local and regional scarps, mesas, moats, and knob fields.     

Morphometric comparison of braided Martian channels and some braided terrestial features

Large channels on the Martian surface have been variously attributed to erosional, volcanic, and tectonic processes. Morphometric information shows that large braided Martian channels and islands between those channels are similar in their dimensions to channels and islands of large braided fluvial features on Earth. The information also suggests that braided fractures in solid materials are fundamentally different in morphometry from braided channels of Earth and Mars. Braided tension fractures have characteristically low braiding indices and are much narrower than their irregularly shaped “midchannel” islands. Terrestrial and Martian channels, in contrast, have high braiding indices, and they are wider than their streamlined midchannel islands. Braided volcanic features are known from the earth and the moon, but the absence of volcanic constructs near the large braided channels on Mars indicates that volcanic origin is unlikely. The morphometric information suggests that braided Martian channels are probably of fluvial origin.     

Geologic mapping of the Amirani-Gish Bar region of Io: Implications for the global geologic mapping of Io

We produced the first geologic map of the Amirani-Gish Bar region of Io, the last of four regional maps generated from Galileo mission data. The Amirani-Gish Bar region has five primary types of geologic materials: plains, mountains, patera floors, flows, and diffuse deposits. The flows and patera floors are thought to be compositionally similar, but are subdivided based on interpretations regarding their emplacement environments and mechanisms. Our mapping shows that volcanic activity in the Amirani-Gish Bar region is dominated by the Amirani Eruptive Center (AEC), now recognized to be part of an extensive, combined Amirani-Maui flow field. A mappable flow connects Amirani and Maui, suggesting that Maui is fed from Amirani, such that the post-Voyager designation “Maui Eruptive Center” should be revised. Amirani contains at least four hot spots detected by Galileo, and is the source of widespread bright (sulfur?) flows and active dark (silicate?) flows being emplaced in the Promethean style (slowly emplaced, compound flow fields). The floor of Gish Bar Patera has been partially resurfaced by dark lava flows, although other parts of its floor are bright and appeared unchanged during the Galileo mission. This suggests that the floor did not undergo complete resurfacing as a lava lake as proposed for other ionian paterae. There are several other hot spots in the region that are the sources of both active dark flows (confined within paterae), and SO₂- and S₂-rich diffuse deposits. Mapped diffuse deposits around fractures on mountains and in the plains appear to serve as the source for gas venting without the release of magma, an association previously unrecognized in this region. The six mountains mapped in this region exhibit various states of degradation. In addition to gaining insight into this region of Io, all four maps are studied to assess the best methodology to use to produce a new global geologic map of Io based on the newly released, combined Galileo-Voyager global mosaics. To convey the complexity of ionian surface geology, we find that a new global geologic map of Io should include a map sheet displaying the global abundances and types of surface features as well as a complementary GIS database as a means to catalog the record of surface changes observed since the Voyager flybys and during the Galileo mission.     

Recent geological and hydrological activity on Mars: The Tharsis/Elysium corridor

The paradigm of an ancient warm, wet, and dynamically active Mars, which transitioned into a cold, dry, and internally dead planet, has persisted up until recently despite published Viking-based geologic maps that indicate geologic and hydrologic activity extending into the Late Amazonian epoch. This paradigm is shifting to a water-enriched planet, which may still exhibit internal activity, based on a collection of geologic, hydrologic, topographic, chemical, and elemental evidences obtained by the Viking, Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Odyssey (MO), Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), and Mars Express (MEx) missions. The evidence includes: (1) stratigraphically young rock materials such as pristine lava flows with few, if any, superposed impact craters; (2) tectonic features that cut stratigraphically young materials; (3) features with possible aqueous origin such as structurally controlled channels that dissect stratigraphically young materials and anastomosing-patterned slope streaks on hillslopes; (4) spatially varying elemental abundances for such elements as hydrogen (H) and chlorine (Cl) recorded in rock materials up to 0.33 m depth; and (5) regions of elevated atmospheric methane. This evidence is pronounced in parts of Tharsis, Elysium, and the region that straddles the two volcanic provinces, collectively referred to here as the Tharsis/Elysium corridor. Based in part on field investigations of Solfatara Crater, Italy, recommended as a suitable terrestrial analog, the Tharsis/Elysium corridor should be considered a prime target for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) investigations and future science-driven exploration to investigate whether Mars is internally and hydrologically active at the present time, and whether the persistence of this activity has resulted in biologic activity.     

Preliminary mariner 9 report on the geology of Mars

Mariner 9 pictures indicate that the surface of Mars has been shaped by impact, volcanic, tectonic, erosional and depositional activity. The moonlike cratered terrain, identified as the dominant surface unit from the Mariner 6 and 7 flyby data, has proven to be less typical of Mars than previously believed, although extensive in the mid- and high-latitude regions of the southern hemisphere. Martian craters are highly modified but their size-frequency distribution and morphology suggest that most were formed by impact. Circular basins encompassed by rugged terrain and filled with smooth plains material are recognized. These structures, like the craters, are more modified than corresponding features on the Moon and they exercise a less dominant influence on the regional geology. Smooth plains with few visible craters fill the large basins and the floors of larger craters; they also occupy large parts of the northern hemisphere where the plains lap against higher landforms. The middle northern latitudes of Mars from 90 to 150† longitude contain at least four large shield volcanoes each of which is about twice as massive as the largest on Earth. Steep-sided domes with summit craters and large, fresh-appearing volcanic craters with smooth rims are also present in this region. Multiple flow structures, ridges with lobate flanks, chain craters, and sinuous rilles occur in all regions, suggesting widespread volcanism. Evidence for tectonic activity postdating formation of the cratered terrain and some of the plains units is abundant in the equatorial area from 0 to 120° longitude.Some regions exhibit a complex semiradial array of graben that suggest doming and stretching of the surface. Others contain intensity faulted terrain with broader, deeper graben separated by a complex mosaic of flat-topped blocks. An east-west-trending canyon system about 100–200 km wide and about 2500 km long extends through the Coprates-Eos region. The canyons have gullied walls indicative of extensive headward erosion since their initial formation. Regionally depressed areas called chaotic terrain consist of intricately broken and jumbled blocks and appear to result from breaking up and slumping of older geologic units. Compressional features have not been identified in any of the pictures analyzed to data. Plumose light and dark surface markings can be explained by eolian transport. Mariner 9 has thus revealed that Mars is a complex planet with its own distinctive geologic history and that it is less primitive than the Moon.     

Millochau crater, Mars: Infilling and erosion of an ancient highland impact crater

The geology and stratigraphy of Millochau crater (21.4° S, 275° W), located in the highlands of Tyrrhena Terra, Mars, are documented through geomorphic analyses and geologic mapping. Crater size-frequency distributions and superposition relationships are used to constrain relative ages of geologic units and determine the timing and duration of the geologic processes that modified Millochau rim materials and emplaced deposits on Millochau's floor. Crater size-frequency distributions show a Middle Noachian age for rim materials and Middle Noachian to Early Hesperian ages for most of the interior deposits. Valley networks and gullies incised within Millochau's rim materials and interior wall, respectively, indicate fluvial activity was an important erosional process. Millochau contains an interior plateau, offset northeast of Millochau's center, which rises up to 400 m above the surrounding crater floor and slopes downward to the south and west. Layers exposed along the northern and eastern scarp boundaries of the plateau are tens to hundreds of meters thick and laterally continuous in MOC images. These layers suggest most materials within Millochau were emplaced by sedimentary processes (e.g., fluvial or eolian), with the potential for lacustrine deposition in shallow transient bodies of water and contributions of volcanic airfall. Mass wasting may have also contributed significant quantities of material to Millochau's interior, especially to the deposits surrounding the plateau. Superposition relationships combined with impact crater statistics indicate that most deposition and erosion of Millochau's interior deposits is ancient, which implies that fluvial activity in this part of Tyrrhena Terra is much older than in the eastern Hellas region. Eolian processes mobilized sediment to form complicated patterns of long- and short-wavelength dunes, whose emplacement is controlled by local topography. These deposits are some of the youngest within Millochau (Amazonian) and eolian modification may be ongoing.     

Relative crater production rates on planets

Dynamical histories of planetesimals in specified orbits, calculated by Wetherill (1975) and others, have estimates of relative numbers of impacts on different planets. These impact rates, $\text{F}$, are converted to crater production rates, F, by means of tables developed in this paper. Conversions are dependent on impact velocity and surface gravity. Crater retention ages can then be derived from (crater density)/(crater production rate). Such calculations of impact rates and their histories give the only basis, independent of sample dating, for establishing absolute geologic histories of the planets, contrary to published implications that this can be done by comparison of photos alone. A survey of the results, from orbits of interplanetary objects studied to date, indicates that the terrestial planets have crater production rates within a factor ten of each other, and that planet's crater retention ages can probably be determined with a factor of ±3. Further calculations of orbital histories of additional interplanetary bodies are suggested to put photogeologic analyses from spacecraft imagery on a firmer basis.Applications to Mars, as an example, using least-squares fits to crater-count data, suggest an average age of 0.3 to 3 b.y. for two types of channels. The Tharsis volcanics are found to be slightly younger than the channels (strongly confirmed by photomorphology since they are not cut by channels) and Olympus Mons is about 0.06 to 0.6 b.y. old, contrary to recent assertions that Olympus Mons is 2.5 b.y. old and most Martian volcanic provinces older than 3 b.y. Data strongly support the hypothesis that Martian channels formed in a fluvial climate that persisted on Mars until the Tharsis volcanism caused a change in the Martian obliquity state, as outlined by Toon, Ward, and Burns (1977).     

Evidence for explosive volcanic density currents on certain Martian volcanoes

A number of Martian volcanoes, especially Ceraunius Tholus, Uranius Tholus, Uranius Patera, and Hecates Tholus, show morphological features strikingly different from those of shield volcanoes but analogous to those of terrestrial cones and composite volcanoes such as Barcena Volcano, Mexico. The most distinguishing overall features are steep slope angles, and Krakatoa-type caldera morphologies. Erosional features comprise numerous radial channels which extend from below the rim toward the base of the dome, and in some cases, patterns of anastamosing gullies which contribute to the main radial channels. Constructional features include blanketed flanks interpreted as dune or fan-like deposits of ash, and perhaps lava deltas. A possible explanation for the morphological features associated with these volcanoes is that they were formed by explosive volcanic density currents. Such eruptions would be expected on Mars where a rising magma came in contact with a thick layer of permafrost generating a base surge or after a Vulcanian explosion of a separate gas phase producing a nuée ardente. Crater age data from the surface of Martian domes and shields indicate that such explosive activity occurred more frequently early in Martian geologic history. This is more consistent with the view that the volcanic density flows were base surges rather than nuées ardentes, the melting of permafrost supplying the water required in base surge generation. If atmospheric conditions were more clement at the time, allowing the recycling of water back to the ground water, then the length of duration of phreatic activity would have been longer, not being limited by depletion time of the local permafrost reservoir.     

Primitive olivine‐phyric shergottite NWA 5789: Petrography,mineral chemistry,and cooling history imply a magma similar to Yamato‐980459

Knowledge of Martian igneous basaltic compositions is crucial for constraining mantle evolution, including early differentiation and mantle convection. Primitive magmas provide direct information about their mantle source regions, but most Martian meteorites either contain cumulate olivine or crystallized from fractionated melts. The recently discovered Martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 5789 is an olivine‐phyric shergottite. NWA 5789 has special significance among the Martian meteorites because it appears to represent one of the most magnesian Martian magmas known, other than Yamato (Y) 980459. Its most magnesian olivine cores (Fo₈₅) are in Mg‐Fe equilibrium with a magma of the bulk rock composition, suggesting that the bulk represents a magma composition. Based on the Al/Ti ratio of its pyroxenes, we infer that the rock began to crystallize at a high pressure consistent with conditions in Mars’ lower crust/upper mantle. It continued and completed its crystallization closer to the surface, where cooling was rapid and produced a mesostasis of radiating sprays of plagioclase and pyroxene. The mineralogy, petrology, mineral chemistry, and bulk rock composition of NWA 5789 are very similar to those of Y‐980459. The similarities between the two meteorites suggest that NWA 5789 (like Y‐980459) represents a primitive, mantle‐derived magma composition. They also suggest the possibility that NWA 5789 and Y‐980459 formed in the same lava flow. However, based on the mineralogy and texture of its mesostasis, NWA 5789 must have cooled more slowly than Y‐980459. NWA 5789 will help elucidate the igneous geology and geochemistry of Mars.     

Variations of the magnetic field near Mars caused by magnetic crustal anomalies

The possible avenues for photoelectron transport were determined during southern hemisphere winter at Mars by using a mapping analysis of the theoretical magnetic field. Magnetic field line tracing was performed by superposing two magnetic field models: (1) magnetic field derived from a three-dimensional (3D) self-consistent quasi-neutral hybrid model which does not contain the Martian crustal magnetic anomalies and (2) a 3D map of the magnetic field associated with the magnetic anomalies based on Mars Global Surveyor magnetic field measurements. It was found that magnetic field lines connected to the nightside of the planet are mainly channeled within the optical shadow of the magnetotail whereas magnetic field lines connected to the dayside of the planet are observed to form the remainder of the magnetosphere. The simulation suggests that the crustal anomalies create “a magnetic shield” by decreasing the region near Mars which is magnetically connected to the Martian magnetosphere. The rotation of Mars causes periodic changes in magnetic connectivity, but not to qualitative changes in the overall magnetic field draping around Mars.     

Mars: The evolutionary history of the northern lowlands based on crater counting and geologic mapping

The geologic history of planetary surfaces is most effectively determined by joining geologic mapping and crater counting which provides an iterative, qualitative and quantitative method for defining relative ages and absolute model ages. Based on this approach, we present spatial and temporal details regarding the evolution of the Martian northern plains and surrounding regions.The highland–lowland boundary (HLB) formed during the pre-Noachian and was subsequently modified through various processes. The Nepenthes Mensae unit along the northern margins of the cratered highlands, was formed by HLB scarp-erosion, deposition of sedimentary and volcanic materials, and dissection by surface runoff between 3.81 and 3.65 Ga. Ages for giant polygons in Utopia and Acidalia Planitiae are $～$ 3.75 Ga and likely reflect the age of buried basement rocks. These buried lowland surfaces are comparable in age to those located closer to the HLB, where a much thinner, post-HLB deposit is mapped. The emplacement of the most extensive lowland surfaces ended between 3.75 and 3.4 Ga, based on densities of craters generally $>3\mathrm{km}$ in diameter. Results from the polygonal terrain support the existence of a major lowland depocenter shortly after the pre-Noachian formation of the northern lowlands. In general, northern plains surfaces show gradually younger ages at lower elevations, consistent local to regional unit emplacement and resurfacing between 3.6 and 2.6 Ga. Elevation levels and morphology are not necessarily related, and variations in ages within the mapped units are found, especially in units formed and modified by multiple geological processes. Regardless, most of the youngest units in the northern lowlands are considered to be lavas, polar ice, or thick mantle deposits, arguing against the ocean theory during the Amazonian Period (younger than about 3.15 Ga).All ages measured in the closest vicinity of the steep dichotomy escarpment are also 3.7 Ga or older. The formation ages of volcanic flanks at the HLB (e.g., Alba Mons (3.6–3.4 Ga) and the last fan at Apollinaris Mons, 3.71 Ga) may give additional temporal constraint for the possible existence of any kind of Martian ocean before about 3.7 Ga. It seems to reflect the termination of a large-scale, precipitation-based hydrological cycle and major geologic processes related to such cycling.     

Distribution and relations of 4- to 10-km-diameter craters to global geologic units of Mars

By correlating the 1:25,000,000 geologic map of Mars of Scott and Carr (1977) with 4- to 10-km-diameter crater density data from Mariner 9 images, the average crater density for 23 of the equatorial geologic-geomorphic units on Mars was computed. The correlation of these two data sets was accomplished by digitizing both the crater density data and geologic map at the same scale and by comparing them in a computer. This technique assigns the crater density value found in the corresponding location on the geologic data set to a discrete computer file assigned each of the 23 geologic units. By averaging the crater density values accumulated in each file, an “average” crater density for each geologic unit was obtained. Condit believes these average crater density values are accurate indicators of the relative age of the geologic units considered. The statistical validity of these average values is strongest for the geologic units of the largest areal extent. The relative ages as obtained from the average crater density values for the seven largest geologic units, from youngest to oldest, are: Tharsis volcanic material, 21 ± 4 craters/10⁶km²; smooth plains material, 57 ± 14 craters/10⁶km²; rolling plains material, 66 ± 16 craters/10⁶km²; plains materials, 80 ± 17 craters/10⁶km²; ridged plains material, 128 ± 25 craters/10⁶km²; hilly and cratered material, 137 ± 38 craters/10⁶km²; and cratered plateau material, 138 ± 27 craters/10⁶km².     

A morphological view on potential niches for exobiology on Mars

The discovery of microbiota in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica has encouraged the construction of new models of Martian ecosystems in order to determine if life could have once existed on Mars. The Antarctic cyanobacteria reside just below the surface of sandstone rocks where they are protected from the extreme cold and dry environment. Analogy with the Antarctic Dry Valleys supports speculation that hypothetical micro-organisms existed on Mars in the early history of the planet and could have migrated into suitable rocks as the availability of liquid water decreased. Although evidence for sandstone layers on Mars has not been substantiated, the palaeohydrology of Martian fluvial valleys (MFVs) reveals the evidence of lake bed sediment depositions which have formed consolidated sediments. As the MFVs formation may result from underground drainage processes, the sediment material would be expected to contain debris such as pumice washload, and pumilith of volcanic and meteoritic origin. These materials may have formed consolidated porous terrains similar to the Antarctic sandstone. Therefore, the endolithic model is consistent with the Martian liquid water habitat model of perenially ice-covered lakes.     

Composition and structures of the subsurface in the vicinity of Valles Marineris as revealed by central uplifts of impact craters

Despite recent efforts from space exploration to sound the martian subsurface with RADAR, the structure of the martian subsurface is still unknown. Major geologic contacts or discontinuities inside the martian crust have not been revealed. Another way to analyze the subsurface is to study rocks that have been exhumed from depth by impact processes. The last martian mission, MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), put forth a great deal of effort in targeting the central peaks of impact craters with both of its high resolution instruments: CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) and HiRISE (High Resolution Science Experiment). We analyzed the composition with CRISM and the physical characteristics on HiRISE of the rocks exhumed from depth from 31 impact craters in the vicinity of Valles Marineris. Our analyses revealed the presence at depth of two kinds of material: massive light-toned rocks and intact layers. Exhumed light-toned massive rocks are enriched in low calcium pyroxenes and olivine. Hydrated phases such as smectites and putative serpentine are present and may provide evidence of hydrothermal processes. Some of the rocks may represent portions of the volatile-rich, pre-Noachian martian primitive crust. In the second class of central peaks, exhumed layers are deformed, folded, and fractured. Visible-near infrared (VNIR) spectra suggest that they are composed of a mixture of olivine and high calcium pyroxene associated with hydrated phases. These layers may represent a Noachian volcanic accumulation of up to 18 km due to Tharsis activity. The spatial distribution, as well as the in-depth distribution between the two groups of rocks exhumed, are not random and reveal a major geologic discontinuity below the Tharsis lava plateau. The contact may be vertical over several kilometers depth suggesting the pre-existence of a steep basin (early giant impact or subsidence basin) or sagduction processes.     

A description of surface features in north Tyrrhena Terra, Mars: Evidence for extension and lava flooding

We studied north Tyrrhena Terra, an approximately 39,000 km² area, located in the transition region straddling the Amenthes and Mare Tyrrhenum Mars Chart quadrangles 14 and 22, respectively. The study area comprises ancient terrains with infilled craters, ridges and valleys. Interpretation of orbiter data of ancient terrains is inherently difficult, but valuable information can be obtained using multiple datasets and analyzing various geological features. Using data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board Mars Express, complemented by Mars Global Surveyor MOLA DEM and MOC Narrow Angle datasets, we observed and interpreted surface morphologies at a scale suitable for geologic investigation. Morphometric examination of a 31 km diameter large impact crater indicated that tectonism and volcanism were responsible for its morphologic modification. Small impact crater depth/diameter relationships indicated that smooth surfaces of valleys are composed of highly consolidated material. Surface cracks and lobate fronts further suggested that the rocks are volcanic. Examination of tectonic features revealed that in the study area: a dominant NW-SE fabric is related to a ridge/bench-scarp-valley repetition consistent with synthetic and antithetic normal faulting; a NNW-SSE lineament represents the surface expression of normal faulting post-dating all other tectonic features. A weak NE-SW fabric is observable as small sublinear depressions, and at the contact between units internal to one large crater. One 20 km diameter crater in the study area was interpreted to be a caldera, infilled by thick volcanic rock layers. Identification of wrinkle ridges further indicated that thick layered lava flows infilled the main depressions of the study area. The available evidence suggests that the study area underwent multiple episodes of extension and volcanism.     

Mapping of the Culann-Tohil region of Io from Galileo imaging data

We have used Galileo spacecraft data to produce a geomorphologic map of the Culann-Tohil region of Io's antijovian hemisphere. This region includes a newly discovered shield volcano, Ts?i Goab Tholus and a neighboring bright flow field, Ts?i Goab Fluctus, the active Culann Patera and the enigmatic Tohil Mons-Radegast Patera-Tohil Patera complex. Analysis of Voyager global color and Galileo Solid-State Imaging (SSI) high-resolution, regional (50-330 m/pixel), and global color (1.4 km/pixel) images, along with available Galileo Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) data, suggests that 16 distinct geologic units can be defined and characterized in this region, including 5 types of diffuse deposits. Ts?i Goab Fluctus is the center of a low-temperature hotspot detected by NIMS late during the Galileo mission, and could represent the best case for active effusive sulfur volcanism detected by Galileo. The Culann volcanic center has produced a range of explosive and effusive deposits, including an outer yellowish ring of enhanced sulfur dioxide (SO₂), an inner red ring of SO₂ with short-chain sulfur (S₃-S₄) contaminants, and two irregular green diffuse deposits (one in Tohil Patera) apparently produced by the interaction of dark, silicate lava flows with sulfurous contaminants ballistically-emplaced from Culann's eruption plume(s). Fresh and red-mantled dark lava flows west of the Culann vent can be contrasted with unusual red-brown flows east of the vent. These red-brown flows have a distinct color that is suggestive of a compositional difference, although whether this is due to surface alteration or distinct lava compositions cannot be determined. The main massif of Tohil Mons is covered with ridges and grooves, defining a unit of tectonically disrupted crustal materials. Tohil Mons also contains a younger unit of mottled crustal materials that were displaced by mass wasting processes. Neighboring Radegast Patera contains a NIMS hotspot and a young lava lake of dark silicate flows, whereas the southwest portion of Tohil Patera contains white flow-like units, perhaps consisting of ‘ponds’ of effusively emplaced SO₂. From 0°-15° S the hummocky bright plains unit away from volcanic centers contains scarps, grooves, pits, graben, and channel-like features, some of which have been modified by erosion. Although the most active volcanic centers appear to be found in structural lows (as indicated by mapping of scarps), DEMs derived from stereo images show that, with the exception of Tohil Mons, there is less than 1 km of relief in the Culann-Tohil region. There is no discernable correlation between centers of active volcanism and topography.