Impact-generated winds on Mars

Abstract

Bright and dark wind streaks across Mars record wind patterns related to atmospheric circulation. In some cases these streaks represent erosion of a surface veneer; in others, they indicate sand grains mobilized by strong vortices shed off of positive relief, such as crater rims. While many streaks change length or orientation over time, others not only remain unchanged but also may indicate a completely different wind direction. These permanent streaks could reflect past circulation patterns in response to conditions related to orbital forcing (e.g., Thomas and Veverka, 1979; Veverka et al., 1981). Here, however, we focus on a subset of permanent wind streaks unrelated to global circulation, rather to impact-generated winds that can extend more than 500km away from the crater. Nighttime images from the Mars Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) reveal certain large craters (> 15km in diameter) having sets of thermally bright streaks that radiate from certain fresh impact craters. These streaks extend from pre-existing topographic highs (crater rims, wrinkle ridges) beyond the continuous ejecta deposits to more than 6 crater radii, unrelated to secondary craters. For illustration, this contribution primarily focuses on the 20km-diameter Santa Fe crater in Chryse Planitia. Context Camera (CTX) images reveal that these streaks correspond to zones of erosion. The thermally bright rays in nighttime images correlate with regions where coarser materials have been exposed, not always resolved even in HiRISE images. Models of the impact process indicate impact-generated vapor most likely generated intense winds that scoured the region, well before arrival of secondary craters and later ejecta run-out flows. Pre-existing relief (such as crater rims) disturbed this flow and generated intense cross-flow instabilities resulting in long parallel streaks.