Orbital and In-Situ Investigation of Periodic Bedrock Ridges in Glen Torridon, Gale Crater, Mars.

Autor: Stack KM; Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USA., Dietrich WE; Department of Earth and Planetary Science University of California, Berkeley Berkeley CA USA., Lamb MP; Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USA., Sullivan RJ; Cornell Center for Astrophysics & Planetary Science Cornell University Ithaca NY USA., Christian JR; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO USA., Newman CE; Aeolis Research Chandler AZ USA., O'Connell-Cooper CD; Department of Earth Science University of New Brunswick Fredericton NB Canada., Sneed JW; Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USA., Day M; Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USA., Baker M; Center for Earth & Planetary Studies National Air & Space Museum Smithsonian Institution Washington DC USA., Arvidson RE; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO USA., Fedo CM; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of Tennessee, Knoxville Knoxville TN USA., Khan S; Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA USA., Williams RME; Planetary Science Institute Tucson AZ USA., Bennett KA; Astrogeology Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Flagstaff AZ USA., Bryk AB; Department of Earth and Planetary Science University of California, Berkeley Berkeley CA USA., Cofield S; U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Washington DC USA., Edgar LA; Astrogeology Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Flagstaff AZ USA., Fox VK; Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN USA., Fraeman AA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USA., House CH; College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Penn State University University Park PA USA., Rubin DM; Earth and Planetary Sciences University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA USA., Sun VZ; Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USA., Van Beek JK; Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of geophysical research. Planets [J Geophys Res Planets] 2022 Jun; Vol. 127 (6), pp. e2021JE007096. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 May 26.
DOI: 10.1029/2021JE007096
Abstrakt: Gale crater, the field site for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, contains a diverse and extensive record of aeolian deposition and erosion. This study focuses on a series of regularly spaced, curvilinear, and sometimes branching bedrock ridges that occur within the Glen Torridon region on the lower northwest flank of Aeolis Mons, the central mound within Gale crater. During Curiosity's exploration of Glen Torridon between sols ∼2300-3080, the rover drove through this field of ridges, providing the opportunity for in situ observation of these features. This study uses orbiter and rover data to characterize ridge morphology, spatial distribution, compositional and material properties, and association with other aeolian features in the area. Based on these observations, we find that the Glen Torridon ridges are consistent with an origin as wind-eroded bedrock ridges, carved during the exhumation of Mount Sharp. Erosional features like the Glen Torridon ridges observed elsewhere on Mars, termed periodic bedrock ridges (PBRs), have been interpreted to form transverse to the dominant wind direction. The size and morphology of the Glen Torridon PBRs are consistent with transverse formative winds, but the orientation of nearby aeolian bedforms and bedrock erosional features raise the possibility of PBR formation by a net northeasterly wind regime. Although several formation models for the Glen Torridon PBRs are still under consideration, and questions persist about the nature of PBR-forming paleowinds, the presence of PBRs at this site provides important constraints on the depositional and erosional history of Gale crater.
(© 2022 Jet Propulsion Laboratory. California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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