TY - JOUR
T1 - Mapping and Characterization of Martian Intercrater Bedrock Plains
T2 - Insights Into Resurfacing Processes in the Martian Cratered Highlands
AU - Cowart, J. C.
AU - Rogers, A. D.
AU - Edwards, C. S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NASA Mars Data Analysis Program NNX14AM26G. All derived data used to generate figures in this work (e.g., spectra shown in plots, shape files, DCS images) are stored within the Zenodo repository ( https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3465964 ) THEMIS radiance, CTX, and HiRISE images are available from the NASA Planetary Data System. We would like to thank Jessica Flahaut and Vivian Sun for their thorough and insightful comments during the review process and members of the HiRISE team for their assistance in acquiring our targeting requests.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NASA Mars Data Analysis Program NNX14AM26G. All derived data used to generate figures in this work (e.g., spectra shown in plots, shape files, DCS images) are stored within the Zenodo repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3465964) THEMIS radiance, CTX, and HiRISE images are available from the NASA Planetary Data System. We would like to thank Jessica Flahaut and Vivian Sun for their thorough and insightful comments during the review process and members of the HiRISE team for their assistance in acquiring our targeting requests.
Publisher Copyright:
©2019. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - We have produced a map of the Martian highlands that identifies and delineates flat, areally expansive regions of lithified material (bedrock plains) using orbit-based thermal measurements. We performed morphological and spectral analyses to infer their mechanical properties and determine compositional differences from the surrounding unlithified materials. We tested a previously noted relationship between bedrock plains and olivine spectral detections with quantitative olivine abundance modeling. Finally, we created a catalogue of process-related landforms (e.g., layering, sinuous ridges, and raised lobate surfaces) associated with bedrock plains. These investigations were used to interpret potential bedrock plain origins. We found that bedrock plains commonly contain multiple morphologically and spectrally distinct subunits. Many bedrock plain surfaces are moderately to heavily degraded, with an apparent susceptibility to aeolian erosion. These properties are consistent with friable clastic materials. Bedrock plains are generally basaltic in composition. They are compositionally distinct from their surroundings, in nearly all cases due to variations in mafic mineralogy. Olivine enrichments associated with bedrock plains are common but not ubiquitous. Olivine enrichments within plain subunits were typically less than 10% above the surrounding, unlithified surface materials. These enrichments could have arisen from mineral fractionation processes during the bulk transport and erosional deflation of clastic materials. Some bedrock plains show strong evidence for fluvial deposition, especially in the Terra Sabaea region. Finally, in addition to clastic bedrock plains, a cluster of bedrock plains in central Terra Cimmeria contain subunits that show evidence for emplacement via effusive volcanism.
AB - We have produced a map of the Martian highlands that identifies and delineates flat, areally expansive regions of lithified material (bedrock plains) using orbit-based thermal measurements. We performed morphological and spectral analyses to infer their mechanical properties and determine compositional differences from the surrounding unlithified materials. We tested a previously noted relationship between bedrock plains and olivine spectral detections with quantitative olivine abundance modeling. Finally, we created a catalogue of process-related landforms (e.g., layering, sinuous ridges, and raised lobate surfaces) associated with bedrock plains. These investigations were used to interpret potential bedrock plain origins. We found that bedrock plains commonly contain multiple morphologically and spectrally distinct subunits. Many bedrock plain surfaces are moderately to heavily degraded, with an apparent susceptibility to aeolian erosion. These properties are consistent with friable clastic materials. Bedrock plains are generally basaltic in composition. They are compositionally distinct from their surroundings, in nearly all cases due to variations in mafic mineralogy. Olivine enrichments associated with bedrock plains are common but not ubiquitous. Olivine enrichments within plain subunits were typically less than 10% above the surrounding, unlithified surface materials. These enrichments could have arisen from mineral fractionation processes during the bulk transport and erosional deflation of clastic materials. Some bedrock plains show strong evidence for fluvial deposition, especially in the Terra Sabaea region. Finally, in addition to clastic bedrock plains, a cluster of bedrock plains in central Terra Cimmeria contain subunits that show evidence for emplacement via effusive volcanism.
KW - bedrock plains
KW - geomorphology
KW - Mars
KW - spectroscopy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076278028&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85076278028&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2019JE006062
DO - 10.1029/2019JE006062
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85076278028
SN - 2169-9097
VL - 124
SP - 3181
EP - 3204
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
IS - 12
ER -