Crater degradation in the Martian highlands: Morphometric analysis of the Sinus Sabaeus region and simulation modeling suggest fluvial processes

Abstract

[1] Results from simulation modeling of crater degradation by fluvial and eolian processes are compared with size-frequency and depth of infilling statistics for the heavily cratered Sinus Sabaeus quadrangle of Mars. The fractional degree of infilling of craters greater than 10 km in diameter in this region is bimodal, with a small population of post-Noachian craters with little infilling, whereas most Noachian craters are strongly infilled. This pattern is most consistent with fluvial erosion of craters, because modeling indicates that craters fill rapidly at first, but the rate of infilling diminishes through time as crater wall heights diminish and the area of deposition on the crater floor increases. Simulated rates of crater infilling by eolian processes are more constant, which would be expected to produce craters equally distributed in degree of infilling, which is not observed. The small slope of the size-frequency distribution in the 10-30 km size range is also consistent with the more rapid fluvial erosion of smaller craters. The analysis also suggests that rates of crater production and of crater degradation were in rough balance during the Noachian epoch in the 10-30 km size range.

Possible evaporite karst in an interior layered deposit in Juventae Chasma, Mars

“…It is unlikely that all possible rims and ejecta deposits were totally destroyed or cancelled by erosion processes. Several authors have investigated changes in Martian crater morphology in the advanced stage of modification due to erosion processes (Craddock et al, 1997;Forsberg-Taylor et al, 2004). When rims are removed completely through erosion and back-wasting processes, the crater fills with a deposit having a parabolic or super-parabolic cross-section (ForsbergTaylor et al, 2004), and the crater walls show a decrease of their average interior slope (Craddock et al, 2008).…”

Martian perched craters and large ejecta volume: Evidence for episodes of deflation in the northern lowlands

“…The VBF may also have contributed to the crater infilling (Kreslavsky and Head 2002b;Head et al 2002). The transport of sediment and infilling of craters may have also occurred through eolian activity (Zimbelman et al 1989) that tends to fill crater cavities at a characteristic constant rate (Forsberg-Taylor et al 2004). …”

Paleohydrology of Eberswalde crater, Mars

“…Valley networks hundreds of kilometers long, valley heads near topographic divides, locally dense dissection, overflowed basins, and a need for aquifer recharge to erode the measured volumes of valleys indicate an active hydrological cycle at times in the past (e.g., Grant, 2000;Craddock and Howard, 2002;Fassett and Head, 2008b;Irwin et al, 2008;Matsubara et al, 2011Matsubara et al, , 2013. Degradation of impact craters throughout the Noachian Period and into the Hesperian Period required a more effective geomorphic regime than is found currently on Mars (Craddock and Maxwell, 1993;Grant and Schultz, 1993a;Craddock et al, 1997;Forsberg-Taylor et al, 2004;Golombek et al, 2006). The multibasin landscape with numerous impact craters and undissected areas between tributaries is, however, inconsistent with high long-term rates of erosion under sustained humid conditions, relative to Earth (e.g., Pieri, 1980;Carr and Malin, 2000;Irwin et al, 2011).…”