TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of the mineral composition of the sediment found in two Mars dunefields
T2 - Ogygis Undae and Gale crater – three distinct endmembers identified
AU - Charles, Heather
AU - Titus, Timothy
AU - Hayward, Rosalyn
AU - Edwards, Christopher
AU - Ahrens, Caitlin
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Dr. Lauren Edgar and Dr. Lori Fenton for their insightful comments in the process of writing this paper. This project was partially funded through NASA 's Planetary Geology and Geophysics ( NNH14AX98I , “Mars Dune Field Mineral Composition – A Global Assessment of Sediment Composition and Maturity.”) and the Mars Odyssey Programs.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016
PY - 2017/1/15
Y1 - 2017/1/15
N2 - The composition of two dune fields, Ogygis Undae and the NE–SW trending dune field in Gale crater (the “Bagnold Dune Field” and “Western Dune Field”), were analyzed using thermal emission spectra from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). The Gale crater dune field was used as a baseline as other orbital compositional analyses have been conducted, and in situ sampling results will soon be available. Results from unmixing thermal emission spectra showed a spatial variation between feldspar mineral abundances and pyroxene mineral abundances in Ogygis Undae. Other datasets, including nighttime thermal inertia values, also showed variation throughout the dune field. One explanation proposed for this variation is a bimodal distribution of two sand populations. This distribution is seen in some terrestrial dune fields. The two dune fields varied in both mineral types present and in uniformity of composition. These differences point to different source lithologies and different distances travelled from source material. Examining these differences further will allow for a greater understanding of aeolian processes on Mars.
AB - The composition of two dune fields, Ogygis Undae and the NE–SW trending dune field in Gale crater (the “Bagnold Dune Field” and “Western Dune Field”), were analyzed using thermal emission spectra from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). The Gale crater dune field was used as a baseline as other orbital compositional analyses have been conducted, and in situ sampling results will soon be available. Results from unmixing thermal emission spectra showed a spatial variation between feldspar mineral abundances and pyroxene mineral abundances in Ogygis Undae. Other datasets, including nighttime thermal inertia values, also showed variation throughout the dune field. One explanation proposed for this variation is a bimodal distribution of two sand populations. This distribution is seen in some terrestrial dune fields. The two dune fields varied in both mineral types present and in uniformity of composition. These differences point to different source lithologies and different distances travelled from source material. Examining these differences further will allow for a greater understanding of aeolian processes on Mars.
KW - Mars
KW - TES
KW - THEMIS
KW - aeolian
KW - dunes
KW - fields
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U2 - 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.10.022
DO - 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.10.022
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85003016939
SN - 0012-821X
VL - 458
SP - 152
EP - 160
JO - Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters
JF - Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters
ER -