Knob fields in the Terra Cimmeria/Terra Sirenum region of Mars: Stratigraphy, mineralogy and morphology

Abstract

We investigate the stratigraphy, morphology and mineralogy of five major knob fields in the region between Terra Cimmeria and Terra Sirenum on Mars based on HRSC, CTX, MOC and HiRISE imagery together with hyperspectral data from CRISM. The knob fields comprise Ariadnes Colles, Atlantis Chaos and Gorgonum Chaos and further, unnamed fields of mounds. They have been mapped in previous studies as Hesperian or Amazonian units and are located within the shoreline of the proposed “Eridania lake”, the putative source of Ma’adim Vallis. The mounds contain Mg/Fe-bearing phyllosilicates and locally Al-rich phyllosilicates. Our geological mapping shows that the knob fields have a late Noachian age, which indicates later phyllosilicate formation than typically observed on Mars. The knob fields formed by alteration of the “Electris deposit”, an airfall deposit possibly rich in basaltic glass (Grant, J.A., Schultz, P.H. [1990]. Icarus 84, 166–195), in local depressions, possibly in the Eridania lake. The spectroscopic detection of phyllosilicates here may indicate that liquid water persisted longer in this region than elsewhere on Mars. The knob fields are embayed by the Hesperian ridged plains. Numerous valleys carve into the ridged plains and document that the aqueous history of this region continued into the Hesperian and Amazonian. The study area is traversed by the Sirenum Fossae. These graben appear to post-date the aqueous activity in the study area except in the Gorgonum basin, where a lake developed after their formation.