Astrogeology Science Center
Publications
Report from the Ice and Climate Evolution Science Analysis group (ICE-SAG)
This document is the final report of the Ice and Climate Evolution Science Analysis Group (ICESAG) that was formed by the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) as part of its preparations for the upcoming NASA Planetary Science Decadal Survey for 2023 through 2032 (see §1). Through telecons, one face-to-face meeting, and discussions with...
Putzig, Than; Diniega, Serina; Dundas, Colin M.; Titus, Timothy N. Active boulder movement at high Martian latitudes
Lobate stony landforms occur on steep slopes at high latitudes on Mars. We demonstrate active boulder movement at seven such sites. Sub-meter-scale boulders frequently move distances of a few meters. The movement is concentrated in the vicinity of the lobate landforms but also occurs on other slopes. This provides evidence for a new, common style...
Dundas, Colin M.; Mellon, Michael T.; Conway, Susan J.; Gastineau, Renaldo Formation of pedestalled, relict lakes on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Surface debris covers much of the western portion of the McMurdo Ice Shelf and has a strong influence on the local surface albedo and energy balance. Differential ablation between debris-covered and debris-free areas creates an unusual heterogeneous surface of topographically low, high-ablation, and topographically raised (‘pedestalled’), low-...
MacDonald, Grant J; Banwell, Alison F; Willis, Ian C; Mayer, David; Goodsell, Becky; MacAyeal, Douglas R Persistence of intense, climate-driven runoff late in Mars history
Mars is dry today, but numerous precipitation-fed paleo-rivers are found across the planet’s surface. These rivers’ existence is a challenge to models of planetary climate evolution. We report results indicating that, for a given catchment area, rivers on Mars were wider than rivers on Earth today. We use the scale (width and wavelength) of Mars...
Kite, Edwin S.; Mayer, David; Wilson, Sharon A.; Davis, Joel M.; Lucas, Antoine S.; Stucky de Quay, Gaia Better approaches to managing drought in the American Southwest
The second in a series of USGS Southwest Region (SWR) “Science Exchange” annual workshops, focused on USGS drought science. The participants considered how extreme drought conditions are evolving in much of the American southwest, with an emphasis on integrated drought science planning at the USGS bureau and program levels. The increased need for...
Lambert, Patrick; Titus, Timothy N.; Ostroff, Andrea Dark halos produced by current impact cratering on Mars
Hundreds of new impact craters have been observed to form on Mars since spacecraft began imaging that planet. New impact craters produced visible ejecta deposits and many of them also have visible rays, similar to lunar and mercurian craters. However, some of the new martian impact craters have a circular feature of relatively...
Bart, Gwendolyn D.; Daubar, Ingrid J.; Ivanov, Boris A; Dundas, Colin M.; McEwen, Alfred S. Evidence for plunging river plume deposits in the Pahrump Hills member of the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars
Recent robotic missions to Mars have offered new insights into the extent, diversity and habitability of the Martian sedimentary rock record. Since the Curiosity rover landed in Gale crater in August 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory Science Team has explored the origins and habitability of ancient fluvial, deltaic, lacustrine and...
Stack, Kathryn M.; Grotzinger, John P.; Lamb, Michael P.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Rubin, David M.; Kah, Linda C.; Edgar, Lauren A.; Fey, Deirdra M.; Hurowitz, Joel A.; McBride, Marie J.; Rivera-Hernández, Frances; Sumner, Dawn Y.; Van Beek, Jason K.; Williams, Rebecca M. E.; Yingst, R. Aileen
Planetary geologic mapping—Program status and future needs
The United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Planetary Geologic Map Coordination Group (Flagstaff, Ariz.) surveyed planetary geoscience map makers and users to determine the importance, relevance, and usability of such products to their planetary science research and to current and future needs of the planetary science community. This survey was...
Skinner, James A.; Huff, Alexandra E.; Fortezzo, Corey M.; Gaither, Tenielle; Hare, Trent M.; Hunter, Marc A.; Buban, Holly The compositions of the lunar crust and upper mantle: Spectral analysis of the inner rings of lunar impact basins
The innermost ring in impact basins exposes material originating from various depths, and can be used to study the composition of the lunar crust with depth. In this study, we conduct quantitative mineralogical analyses of the innermost ring in 13 lunar impact basins using reflectance data from the Kaguya Multiband Imager and...
Lemelin, Myriam; Lucey, Paul G.; Miljković, Katarina; Gaddis, Lisa R.; Hare, Trent M.; Ohtake, Makiko The formation of gullies on Mars today
A decade of high-resolution monitoring has revealed extensive activity in fresh Martian gullies. Flows within the gullies are diverse: they can be relatively light, neutral or dark, colourful or bland, and range from superficial deposits to 10 m-scale topographic changes. We observed erosion and transport of material within gullies, new terraces,...
Dundas, Colin M.; McEwen, Alfred S.; Diniega, Serina; Hansen, Candice J.; McElwaince, Jim N. The flood lavas of Kasei Valles, Mars
Both the northern and southern arms of Kasei Valles are occupied by platy-ridged flood lavas. We have mapped these flows and examined their morphology to better understand their emplacement. The lavas were emplaced as high-flux, turbulent flows (exceeding 106 m3 s−1). Lava in southern Kasei Valles can be traced back up onto the...
Dundas, Colin M.; Cushing, Glen E.; Kestay, Laszlo P. Overview of spirit microscopic imager results
This paper provides an overview of Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Microscopic Imager (MI) operations and the calibration, processing, and analysis of MI data. The focus of this overview is on the last five Earth years (2005–2010) of Spirit's mission in Gusev crater, supplementing the previous overview of the first 450 sols of the...
Herkenhoff, Kenneth E.; Squyres, Steve W; Arvidson, Raymond E.; Cole, Shoshanna B; Sullivan, Rob; Yingst, Aileen; Cabrol, Nathalie; Lee, Ella (Contractor); Richie, Janet; Sucharski, Robert M.; Calef, Fred J.; Bell, James F. ; Chapman, Mary; Geissler, Paul; Edgar, Lauren A.; Franklin, Brenda; Hurowitz, Joel A.; Jensen, Elsa; Johnson, Jeffrey R.; Kirk, Randolph L.; Lanagan, Peter; Mullins, Kevin; Leff, Craig; Maki, Justin; Redding, Bonnie L.; Rice, Melissa; Sims, Michael H.; Sunda, Annette; Springer, Richard; Spanovich, Nicole; Soderblom, Laurence A.; Vaughan, Alicia