Colin Dundas, Ph.D.
Colin Dundas is a Research Geologist with the Astrogeology Science Center. He studies planetary geomorphology and surface processes using spacecraft imagery and topography data as well as numerical modeling, with a particular focus on active processes and change detection. He is a Co-Investigator and Science Theme Lead for Mass Wasting on the HiRISE camera team.
Past and current research areas include:
- Current activity on Martian slopes, including Recurring Slope Lineae and changes in gullies
- Martian ground ice, ice-exposing impact craters and scarps, and sublimation-thermokarst landforms
- Large lava flows and lava-volatile interactions on Mars, Io, and Earth
- Effects of target properties and secondary craters on crater chronology
- Floods in Martian outflow channels
- Volatile-loss landforms in the Solar System
Professional Experience
2009-2011: Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona.
2011 - Present: Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Planetary Science (Geoscience minor), The University of Arizona, 2009
B.S., Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, 2004
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 80
HiRISE observations of fractured mounds: Possible Martian pingos HiRISE observations of fractured mounds: Possible Martian pingos
Early images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera have revealed small fractured mounds in the Martian mid‐latitudes. HiRISE resolves fractures on the mound surfaces, indicating uplift, and shows that the mound surface material resembles that of the surrounding landscape. Analysis of Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images shows that in Utopia Planitia the mounds...
Authors
Colin M. Dundas, Michael T. Mellon, Alfred S. McEwen, Alexandra Lefort, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Nicolas Thomas
Athabasca Valles, Mars: A lava-draped channel system Athabasca Valles, Mars: A lava-draped channel system
Athabasca Valles is a young outflow channel system on Mars that may have been carved by catastrophic water floods. However, images acquired by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft reveal that Athabasca Valles is now entirely draped by a thin layer of solidified lava - the remnant of a once-swollen river of molten rock...
Authors
Windy L. Jaeger, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Alfred S. McEwen, Colin M. Dundas, Paul C. Russell
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 80
HiRISE observations of fractured mounds: Possible Martian pingos HiRISE observations of fractured mounds: Possible Martian pingos
Early images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera have revealed small fractured mounds in the Martian mid‐latitudes. HiRISE resolves fractures on the mound surfaces, indicating uplift, and shows that the mound surface material resembles that of the surrounding landscape. Analysis of Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images shows that in Utopia Planitia the mounds...
Authors
Colin M. Dundas, Michael T. Mellon, Alfred S. McEwen, Alexandra Lefort, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Nicolas Thomas
Athabasca Valles, Mars: A lava-draped channel system Athabasca Valles, Mars: A lava-draped channel system
Athabasca Valles is a young outflow channel system on Mars that may have been carved by catastrophic water floods. However, images acquired by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft reveal that Athabasca Valles is now entirely draped by a thin layer of solidified lava - the remnant of a once-swollen river of molten rock...
Authors
Windy L. Jaeger, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Alfred S. McEwen, Colin M. Dundas, Paul C. Russell