Geomorphic analysis of lobate debris aprons on Mars at Mars Orbiter Camera scale: Evidence for ice sublimation initiated by fractures

Abstract

Lobate debris aprons, known to be geomorphic landform indicators of the presence of ground ice, are of special interest for future missions devoted to the research of water on Mars. Lobate debris aprons in fretted terrains of Deuteronilus and Protonilus Mensae (35°–50°N) show typical convex shapes interpreted to be the result of viscous deformation. At the scale of Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) high‐resolution images the surface of these debris aprons shows complex patterns with small pits and buttes. These patterns can be explained by the mantling of dust, the accumulation of interstitial ice, and the subsequent removal of ice by sublimation. The sublimation of the ground ice is especially initiated and accelerated by subsurface heterogeneities like fractures. Theoretical quantification of sublimation rates therefore minimizes sublimation, which is not a homogeneous process, at least over the landforms studied. Crater counts show that the sublimation occurred in the last tens of millions of years up to the recent past. In the point of view of future searching of subsurface ice, only surface layers are submitted to sublimation favoring the conservation of ground ice in deeper layers since the formation of the landform. The geophysical survey of lobate debris aprons would give interesting insights into the subsurface distribution of ice and its seasonal variations, especially in order to measure current sublimation of ground ice.