Abstract
Abstract. We have developed a method for automatically detecting the sources of ice block falls at the Martian north polar scarps. Multitemporal red-filter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images were processed by using the open source NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline in combination with the USGS Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers to produce 0.25 m resolution images as well as a 1 m resolution DTM. The multi-temporal HiRISE images were firstly ortho-rectified by the DTM, and then co-registered by using the Enhanced Correlation Coefficient Maximization (ECC) algorithm. We applied the change detection method on the well-aligned sub-meter scale HiRISE images, which were taken in Mars Year 29 and Mars Year 30, to investigate mass wasting at the scarp area centred at 85.0°N, 151.5°E. The idea of the change detection method is to identify changing shadow patterns based on the grayscale difference between the images. The final results show that erosion events occurred at the full length of this study’s scarp within one Mars Year. However, only the upper and lower part of the scarp show erosion activity, whereas the intermediate parts seem inactive, and this correlates with the slope.
Highlights
Martian polar regions reveal important evidence of planetary climate changes driven by changes in Mars’ obliquity and eccentricity (Ward and Rudy, 1991; Byrne and Murray, 2002)
Our results show that the mass wasting of the scarp correlates with its slope
Use our method to detect all sources of block falls at this scarp through time, availability of High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) imagery permitting
Summary
Martian polar regions reveal important evidence of planetary climate changes driven by changes in Mars’ obliquity and eccentricity (Ward and Rudy, 1991; Byrne and Murray, 2002). Equatorward-facing steep scarps at the periphery of the North Polar Layered Deposits (NPLD) are known to experience various types of mass wasting, such as CO2 ice sublimation, avalanche events, and ice block falls (Ivanov and Muhleman, 2000; Russell et al, 2008; Fanara et al, 2020b). When the seasonal CO2 ice sublimates in spring, the force inside the ice layer is revealed in the form of surface fracturing. This leads to ice block falls that are playing a major role in active erosion
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