Abstract
ABSTRACTThe Greater Meridiani Planum region on Mars is a key locale for a diverse range of fluvial landforms. Valley networks in this region have a range of geomorphologic styles that include negative relief, positive relief, or some combination of both along their lengths. Using high-resolution ∼5–6 m/pixel orbital images in ArcGIS Desktop software, we mapped previously under-recognized fine-scale valley networks within the Greater Meridiani Planum region and recorded their geomorphic characteristics as feature attributes. The objectives in using the mapped features are to 1) document the full range of valley network morphologic types in the region, 2) document changes in morphologic types both on a regional scale and along the valley network segments, and 3) to use the mapped features along with other geologic information from previous studies to better understand landscape evolution in the Greater Meridiani Planum region.
Highlights
The relative timing and duration of aqueous events on Mars is of great interest in identifying former habitable environments
Previous studies of Martian valley networks have recognized the diversity of morphologic types in the Greater Meridiani Planum (GMP) region (e.g. Edgett, 2005; Davis et al, 2016)
The remaining one-third of mapped valley network segments are primarily within unit Nhc2, a younger Noachian-aged cratered terrain, and various ‘etched’ units (NMe1, NMe2, HNMe3) that formed during the Noachain-Hesperian transition period
Summary
The relative timing and duration of aqueous events on Mars is of great interest in identifying former habitable environments. ‘Classic’ valley networks, identified in early Viking images of Mars, are typically negative relief branching features that are a few kilometers wide, >100 m deep, and up to 200 km long (e.g. Mars Channel Working Group, 1983). The vast Arabia Terra region of Mars has numerous inverted valley network systems that have been recently mapped by Davis, Balme, Grindrod, Williams, and Gupta (2016). This study is focused on under-recognized fine-scale valley networks in a smaller portion of Arabia Terra between 5°S–12°N and 348°E–3.5°E, often referred to as Greater Meridiani Planum (GMP). Our mapping of GMP valley networks (Main Map), which have both negative and positive relief, have revealed additional details about the aqueous history of the region (Figure 1). The diverse stratigraphic, morphologic and planimetric attributes enable a refined spatial and temporal reconstruction of the ancient aqueous history in the GMP region not previously obtainable due to the lack of high resolution images and detailed geology
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