Colin Dundas, PhD
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.
Biography
Ph.D., Planetary Science (Geoscience minor), The University of Arizona, 2009
B.S., Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, 2004
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
Science and Products
A numerical model for the cooling of a lava sill with heat pipe effects
Understanding the cooling process of volcanic intrusions into wet sediments is a difficult but important problem, given the presence of extremely large temperature gradients and potentially complex water-magma interactions. This report presents a numerical model to study such interactions, including the effect of heat pipes on the cooling of...
Williams, Kaj E.; Dundas, Colin M.; Kestay, Laszlo P.
Mars science helicopter: Compelling science enabled by an aerial platform
This whitepaper describes two conceptual vehicle designs, including possible tradeoffs within those designs, which would enable a wide array of innovative science investigations. In addition to describing vehicle capabilities, flight characteristics, and the breadth of enabled science for the two helicopter designs, we also introduce three mission...
Bapst, Jonathan; Parker, Timothy J; Balaram, J; Tzanetos, T; Matthies, L H; Edwards, C D; Freeman, Aaron; Withrow-Maser, S; Johnson, W. Carter; Amador-French, E; Bishop, Janice L.; Daubar, Ingrid J.; Dundas, Colin M.; Fraeman, Abigail A.; Hamilton, Christopher W.; Hardgrove, C.; Horgan, Briony H. N.; Leung, C. W.; Lin, Y.; Mittelholz, A; Weiss, B. P. GANGOTRI mission concept on the glacial key to the Amazonian climate of Mars
The GANGOTRI mission concept would investigate in situ the geologic origins of midlatitudinal Martian glaciers, as underlain by Amazonian climate evolution, by riddling the ice with a hybrid thermo-mechanical drill for deep englacial sampling. GANGOTRI would use regolith compositional measurements to characterize ice-regolith interaction, and...
Karunatillake, Suniti; Bramson, Ali M; Zacny, Kris; Dundas, Colin M.; Ojha, Lujendra; Aharonson, Oded; Vos, Eran; Hood, Don R; Rogers, A. Deanne; Levy, Joseph S.; Doran, Peter; Mandt, Kathleen; Wilson, Jack; Hughes, Emily B; Fuqua-Haviland, Heidi; Moersch, Jeffrey; Perl, Scott M.; Haque, Dewan E.; Skok, J. R.; Harish; Vijayan, S.; Bhardwaj, A.; Christner, Brent; Sizemore, Hanna; Kereszturi, A; Schorghofer, Norbert; Retherford, Kurt; Niles, Paul; Lorenzo, Juan Manuel; Mesick, Katherine; Franz, Heather; Rodriguez-Manfredi, Jose; Coupland, Daniel; Bertone, Peter Maximizing the science and resource mapping potential of Orbital VSWIR Spectral measurements of Mars
The last 16 years witnessed a rapid growth in understanding the composition and aqueous alteration of Mars’ surface from orbital data from the Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activité (OMEGA) [1] and Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) [2]. Both are sensitive to water-, hydroxyl-, sulfate-, and...
Murchie, Scott L.; Arvidson, Raymond E.; Bishop, Janice L; Calvin, Wendy M.; Carter, John; Christian, John; Clark, Roger N.; Dundas, Colin M.; Ehlmann, Bethany L.; Fox, Valerie K.; Fraeman, Abigail A.; Goudge, Timothy A; Horgan, Briony H. N.; Hughes, Madison N; Leask, Ellen K; McEwen, Alfred S.; Mustard, John F; Parente, Mario; Powell, Kathryn E; Seelos, Frank P.; Seelos, Kimberly D.; Tarnas, Jesse D; Viviano, Christina E; Wray, James J. Current activity on the Martian surface: A key subject for future exploration
One of the fundamental discoveries in Mars science in the last decade has been the extent and importance of current surface activity. Recent results have shifted our view of Mars from a world where the most interesting geologic events were in the distant past (similar to the Moon) to a world that undergoes active evolution and one where...
Dundas, Colin M.; Byrne, Shane; Chojnacki, Matthew; Diniega, Serina; Daubar, Ingrid J.; Hamilton, Christopher W.; Hansen, Candice J.; McEwen, Alfred S.; Portyankina, Ganna; Sizemore, Hanna G Mid-latitude ice on Mars: A science target for planetary climate histories and an exploration target for in situ resources
In the last decade, aided by the high-resolution data and long-term monitoring by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and other spacecraft, extensive evidence has emerged supporting the presence of abundant H2O ground ice throughout much of the mid-latitudes of Mars. Growing evidence indicates that much of this ice is relatively pure, exists...
Bramson, Ali; Andres, Chimira; Bapst, Jonathan; Becerra, Patricio; Courville, Samuel W; Dundas, Colin M.; Hibbard, Shannon M; Holt, John W; Karunatillake, Suniti; Khuller, Aditya; Mellon, Michael T.; Morgan, Gareth A; Obbard, R. W.; Perry, Matthew R; Petersen, Eric I; Putzig, Nathaniel E.; Sizemore, Hanna G; Smith, Isaac B.; Stillman, David E; Wooster, Paul A critical gap: In situ measurements of surface-atmosphere interactions from outside earth
This white paper demonstrates five points: (1) The lack of robust measurements of the vertical gradients of natural boundary layers and transport fluxes on other planetary bodies precludes adequate estimation of aeolian and other meteorological processes throughout our Solar System (§1). (2) Thus, there exist critical knowledge gaps within high-...
Diniega, Serina; Burr, Devon M; Dundas, Colin M.; Jackson, Brian; Mischna, Michael; Rafkin, Scot; Smith, Isaac B.; Sullivan, Robert; Titus, Timothy N.; Vriend, Nathalie; Walker, Ian J.; Williams, Kaj E. Summary of the final report from the Ice and Climate Evolution Science Analysis group (ICE-SAG)
The Ice and Climate Evolution Science Analysis Group (ICE-SAG) was convened by the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) in fall 2018, with the aims of (1) identifying and prioritizing fundamental science questions related to the recent and ongoing evolution of Mars volatiles and climate, and (2) exploring new mission approaches that...
Diniega, Serina; Putzig, Nathaniel E.; Byrne, Shane; Calvin, Wendy M.; Dundas, Colin M.; Fenton, Lori K.; Hayne, Paul O; Baker, David M H; Holt, John W; Hvidberg, Christine S.; Kahre, Melinda; Mischna, Michael; Morgan, Gareth A; Oehler, Dorothy; Portyankina, Ganna; Rogers, A. Deanne; Sizemore, Hanna G; Smith, Isaac B.; Soto, Alejandro; Tamppari, Leslie; Titus, Timothy N.; Webster, Chris The Mars Orbiter for Resources, Ices, and Environments (MORIE) science goals and instrument trades in radar, imaging, and spectroscopy
The Mars Orbiter for Resources, Ices, and Environments (MORIE) was selected as one of NASA's 2019 Planetary Mission Concept Studies. The mission builds upon recent discoveries and current knowledge gaps linked to two primary scientific questions: (1) when did elements of the cryosphere form and how are ice deposits linked to current, recent, and...
Calvin, Wendy M.; Putzig, Nathaniel E.; Dundas, Colin M.; Bramson, Ali M; Horgan, Briony H N; Seelos, Kim D; Sizemore, Hanna G; Ehlmann, Bethany L.; Morgan, Gareth A; Holt, John W; Murchie, Scott L.; Patterson, G Wesley Modern Mars' geomorphological activity, driven by wind, frost, and gravity
Extensive evidence of landform-scale martian geomorphic changes has been acquired in the last decade, and the number and range of examples of surface activity have increased as more high-resolution imagery has been acquired. Within the present-day Mars climate, wind and frost/ice are the dominant drivers, resulting in large avalanches of material...
Diniega, Serina; Bramson, Ali M; Buratti, Bonnie J.; Buhler, Peter; Burr, Devon M; Chojnacki, Matthew; Conway, Susan J.; Dundas, Colin M.; Hansen, Candice J.; McEwen, Alfred S.; Lapotre, Mathieu G.A.; Levy, Joseph S.; McKeown, Lauren; Piqueux, Sylvain; Portyankina, Ganna; Swann, Christy; Titus, Timothy N.; Widmer, Jacob Widespread exposures of extensive clean shallow ice in the mid-latitudes of Mars
Although ice in the Martian midlatitudes is typically covered by a layer of dust or regolith, it is exposed in some locations by fresh impact craters or in erosional scarps. In both cases, the exposed ice is massive or excess ice with a low lithic content. We find that erosional scarps occur between 50° and 61° north and south latitude and that...
Dundas, Colin M.; Mellon, Michael T.; Conway, Susan J.; Daubar, Ingrid J.; Williams, Kaj E.; Ojha, Lujendra; Wray, James J.; Bramson, Ali; Byrne, Shane; McEwen, Alfred S.; Posiolova, Liliya; Speth, Gunnar; Viola, Donna; Landis, Margaret E.; Morgan, Gareth A; Pathare, Asmin V Lava–water interaction and hydrothermal activity within the 2014–2015 Holuhraun Lava Flow Field, Iceland
Lava that erupted during the 2014–2015 Holuhraun eruption in Iceland flowed into a proglacial river system, resulting in aqueous cooling of the lava and an ephemeral hydrothermal system. We carried out a monitoring study of this system from 2015 to 2018 to document the cooling of the lava over this time, using thermocouple measurements and data-...
Dundas, Colin M.; Keszthelyi, Laszlo P.; Lev, Einat; Rumpf, M. Elise; Hamilton, Christopher W.; Hoskuldsson, Armann; Thordarson, Thorvaldur
3-D Structure of Buried Ice Sheets on Mars Revealed by High-Resolution Images
For the first time, high-resolution images show the three-dimensional structure of massive ice deposits on Mars. According to an in-depth analysis led by the USGS, the images reveal never-before-observed details about the ice sheets, including that some begin just a few feet below the Martian surface and extend to depths greater than 300 feet.
Previous Evidence of Water on Mars Now Identified as Grainflows
Dark features previously proposed as evidence for significant liquid water flowing on Mars have now been identified as granular flows, where sand and dust move rather than liquid water, according to a new article published in Nature Geoscience by the U.S. Geological Survey.