Martian and terrestrial paleoclimatology: Relevance of solar variability

Evidence for past Martian rivers is perhaps the most puzzling and inconsistent present planetary problem, conflicting as it does with current conditions on the planet. This paper emphasizes the similar puzzling evidence that the Earth, as well as Mars, was warmer in the past. Neutrino evidence raises the suggestion that the sun was also “warmer” in the past. A hypothetical cause reconciling all effects is episodic change in solar luminosity on a time-scale of a few hundred million years. This paper outlines requirements and consequences of such a working hypothesis, with pro and con arguments. It is important to try to prove or disprove this hypothesis because it has radical implications for current science. For example, it suggests (1) climates of all the planets have been markedly altered simultaneously by solar changes, sometimes catastrophically; (2) solar changes have been a dominant “forcing function” driving biological speculation and evolution on Earth; (3) the concept of geologic uniformitarianism is somewhat modified by cosmic variables; (4) evolution of water-utilizing intelligent creatures near other stars may be less likely than has been thought, due to catastrophic planetary climate reactions to change in stellar luminosity.     

Moon: ‘ghost’ craters formed during mare filling

This paper discusses formation of pathological cases of crater morphology due to interaction of craters with molten lavas. Terrestrial observations of such a process are discussed. In lunar maria, a number of small impact craters (D < 10 km) may have been covered by thin layers of fluid lavas, or formed in molten lava. Some specific lunar examples are discussed, including unusual shallow rings resembling experimental craters deformed by isostatic filling.Paper dedicated to Professor Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April 1973.     

Recent Fluvial, Volcanic, and Tectonic Activity on the Cerberus Plains of Mars

Athabasca and Marte Valles lie on the Cerberus plains, between the young, lava-covered plains of Elysium Planitia and Amazonis Planitia. To test pre-MGS (Mars Global Surveyor) suggestions of extremely young volcanic and fluvial activity, we present the first crater counts from MGS imagery, at resolutions (∼2-20 m/pixel) much higher than previously available. The most striking result, based on morphologic relations as well as crater counts from different stratigraphic units, is to confirm quantitatively that these channel systems are much younger than most other major outflow channels. The general region has an average model age for lava and fluvial surfaces of ≤200 Myr, and has possibly seen localized water releases, interspersed with lava flows, within the past 20 Myr. The youngest lavas may be no more than a few megayears old. Access of lava and liquid brines to the surface may be favored by openings of the Cerberus Fossae fracture system, but, as shown in the new images, the fractures appear to have continued developing more recently than the most recent lavas or fluvial activity. The Cerberus Fossae system may be an analog to an early stage of Valles Marineris, and its youthful activity raises questions about regional tectonic history. Large-volume water delivery to the surface of young lava flows in recent martian history puts significant boundary conditions on the storage and history of water on Mars.     

The nature of Trojan asteroid 624 Hektor

We report new visual and 20-μm photometry obtained when Hektor was seen nearly along its rotation axis. The visual amplitude was near its minimum, only 0.06 mag, confirming the Dunlap-Gehrels (1969) rotation model. The new observations confirm and refine the large size and low albedo assigned by Cruikshank (1977) from observations of the opposite rotation pole. The albedo of this pole is found to be pv = 0.022 ± 0.003, overlapping the uncertainty of Cruikshank's 0.03 value for the opposite pole. The low albedo makes Hektor roughly three times bigger than estimates of a few years ago. The light variations are interpreted as due to elongated shape. If this is correct, Hektor is both the largest and most elongated known Trojan, as well as being the most elongated known asteroid of its size. From considerations of Trojans' peculiar properties, we propose that Hektor is a somewhat dumbbell shaped object roughly 150 × 300 km in size, resulting from partial coalescence of two primitive spheroidal planetesimals during a relatively low-speed collision in the Trojan Lagrangian cloud, with energy too low for complete disruption. Calculations supporting this model indicate that Trojans may be less altered by collisions than belt asteroids. Observations in 1979 and 1980 can help test this model. A note added on July 17, 1978 relates our result to recent evidence of possible binary asteroid pairs, which may also arise from early low-velocity asteroid-asteroid interactions.     

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.     

Interplanet variations in scale of crater morphology—Earth,Mars, Moon

Craters on the Earth, Mars, and the Moon show a spectrum of morphologies with diameter increasing from simple, bowl-shaped craters through craters with increasingly complex central peaks, to craters with “peak rings” and basins with multiple concentric scarps. In each category there is a range of diameters, centered around a characteristic diameter, D_c. It is found that D_c decreases as the size of the planet increases. Several possible explanations are considered. It is suggested that the effect results from a gravity scaling law derived here and having approximately from the D_c∂ 1/g^1.25, where g is the surface gravity. All geological structures in which gravity is the dominant parameter affecting the morphology should follow such a law.